


you kept me warm (in a cold place)

by jacobperalta



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: AU, F/F, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Hockey, Light Angst, Pitch Perfect 1, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:20:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 62,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27869073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jacobperalta/pseuds/jacobperalta
Summary: Paired with the athlete trainer of a women's hockey team, Chloe Beale meets Beca Mitchell on a school assignment, a small but reckless hockey player who seems to like getting injured as much as she likes avoiding Chloe's questions. Except, Chloe isn't afraid to go after what she wants and getting to know Beca is the only thing on her mind.
Relationships: Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell
Comments: 111
Kudos: 517





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I never thought I'd make a multi chapter fic because I love doing one shots so much but when I got this idea, it was too good to try to cram it into a one shot so here I am. I got the idea of hockey beca from a fic on here by captainsabs so all credits to them for that brilliant concept. Also shoutout to @illegalized on twitter for helping me develop my idea to what it is today. Don't worry, if you don't know anything about hockey, you can still understand (and enjoy hopefully) this fic because I too, do not know a single thing about hockey.
> 
> This is set during pitch perfect 1 even though I changed a couple things like Emily and Flo are there because why not?
> 
> Disclaimer: pitch perfect and its characters do not belong to me

Chloe hummed quietly to herself as she doodled on the side of her textbook. The page she was at described in great details what to do when someone was choking and her professor’s voice was explaining the content of the PowerPoint out loud to the class in a monotone voice. It was fair to assume Chloe was not listening. 

“Miss Beale.”

She looked up in surprise and stopped humming. The woman at the front looked at her with an annoyed expression.

“Please pay attention,” Mrs. Applebaum said for the fourth time today. Chloe smiled, not bothered by the stares from everyone in the class.

“Sorry,” she said and the teacher resumed her teaching. She looked at the little butterflies that she drew and finally paid attention to her class. 

“It’s time to explain your final project. Starting next week till the end of the year, each of you will get assigned to one of our sport teams, assist a medical trainer and help out our beloved athletes. Some of you will be paired with another student on the same team because there’s not enough for all of you. You’ll help out when they get injuries and make sure they’re healthy and ready for their games,” Mrs. Applebaum explained as she passed some papers explaining the full assignment to the class. “Think of it as an unpaid internship,” she said and laughed when a few students groaned. 

Chloe flipped through the pages quickly and without raising her hand, asked a question. “How do we know the team we’re gonna be with?” Barden university had over 30 sports teams ranging from a women’s golf team to a male water polo team and there’s certain teams that she really didn't want to be paired with. 

“You should receive an email from the medical trainer you’ll assist some time this afternoon. All of them received a list of names and picked depending on your schedules and your free periods.” the teacher explained and Chloe nodded in understanding. She just hoped it wouldn’t interfere with her Bellas practice because Aubrey was already strict enough for her liking. 

She loved Aubrey, they had been best friends since their freshman year, but Chloe couldn’t deny that something had gotten into Aubrey this year, making her completely obsessed with the idea of winning. She missed when being in the Bellas just meant having fun while singing. 

The bell rang and everyone got up in a ruckus. Chloe made her way to the Bellas residence where she lived alone with Aubrey since all the recruits they had gotten this year were Freshmen and first years weren’t allowed to live out of the dorms. She passed a few people she knew on the way and smiled at them, exchanging a few words of courtesy when she could. The redhead was well known around the campus, given the fact that she was kind and friendly to everyone. Chloe Beale loved being kind, her parents had taught her from a very young age that nothing made a human richer than kindness in their hearts and she believed that 100%. She believed in people and she loved them. She loved human interactions and fed off on it. 

Aubrey was a little bit more cold towards people and even she couldn’t resist the Beale charm. It was like a magic power, the blonde had told her once and Chloe had laughed at the remark. 

“Hey Bree!” Chloe said, opening the front door and she heard a faint yell back from Aubrey’s room upstairs. She sang to herself distractedly as she went to the kitchen, grabbing a snack and opening her laptop. She yelped in excitement when she saw she had an email sitting in her inbox and clapped to herself.

She was excited for this project, it was a chance for her to meet some people she didn’t necessarily hang out with. Acapella and sports were two big things in Barden but they hung out in very different crowds so Chloe couldn’t say she was friendly with any athletes, except maybe Tom who was in the football team. Hence why she didn’t want to be paired with one of the male football teams. Things had ended weird between them. 

“Are you okay?” Aubrey rushed in the kitchen, looking around like she was expecting to see a fire. 

Chloe nodded with excitement, her apple long forgotten on the side of her laptop. “Look!” she said, pointing to the email from a Luke Allen that they both read at the same time. 

_ Dear Chloe Beale, _

_ I am the athlete trainer with the Barden Dames, the Division III women’s hockey team that we have here at our university. I am happy to announce that I picked your name to be my assistant during the next few months as you learn what it is to be a health professional. I know your major is currently animal studies but you never know when the need for first aid may arise, on humans or animals.  _

_ You may start your training at our next practice, scheduled for next Tuesday at 4PM. We practice at the Arena Kennedy every time.  _

_ You can see I linked our full schedule to this email.  _

_ Please don’t be afraid to contact me if you have any questions.  _

_ Luke Allen _

  
  


They finished reading at the same time and Aubrey looked at her with a puzzled expression. 

“What about the Bellas?”

Chloe sighed, a little bummed that this was her friend’s first reaction but she wasn’t that surprised. “I’ll talk to him about it and I’ll juggle the two. Isn’t this exciting, though?” 

The blonde seemed to realize that her best friend was really excited about her school project and smiled, putting a hand on her shoulder. “That sounds really fun, Chloe.”

Chloe smiled and read the email again. Like he said, the assignment didn’t really have anything to do with her major but she was still a people person and she loved connecting with other human beings. If things went well, she could make tons of new friends and that was always something that made her happy. 

… 

Tuesday arrived quickly and Chloe practically skipped to the arena. She was so excited for the assignment and she was pretty sure Aubrey was only happy she was participating in this because the ginger would finally stop talking about it. She had been talking non stop about it since she found out who she was going to work with, trying to guess how the team worked and now she could finally calm down a little. After all, she knew a thing or two about teams and she wondered if there was the same bond that she had with the Bellas in hockey teams.

She thought she dressed appropriately, going simple with jeans and a blouse but she wasn’t too sure about it since she truly had no idea how things worked inside an arena. If someone asked her what she knew about hockey, the only thing that she could answer was that there was ice involved. 

She pushed the glass doors open and was instantly met with a whiff of cold and she realized she should bring a jacket next time. On her right, there was an office with a closed door and on the left, an area with vending machines and a small canteen. She walked over to the hallway on the other side of the room and smiled when she saw the windows that let you see the ice rink. The zamboni was currently cleaning the ice as she passed through the hallway that led to a bunch of locker rooms. On the bench next to the rink, she could see one player sporting the green Barden uniform, already ready to play and another person who she assumed was the coach. She could hear chatter from the locker room at the very end of the hallway so she guessed that was where she needed to go since the schedule Luke sent told her only the Dames were practicing today. 

“Chloe?”

She looked behind her and a young man with blond hair and a scruffy beard was walking over. 

“Yes?”

He smiled at her, “Great I was hoping that was you. I’m Luke,” he extended a hand and she shook it with a smile. “I see you got familiar quickly with the arena.”

She blushed shyly. She had always been a bit too curious for her own good and she couldn’t count the number of times she had gotten lost as a kid because she ran off to go see something shiny that had caught her eye. 

“Sorry, I just assumed that’s where I needed to go,” she said apologetically and he shook his head. 

“No worries. You had the right idea, that’s exactly where we need to go. I figured I’d introduce you to the players and while they play, I’ll explain everything that I do. If you have any questions, don’t be shy to ask me.” 

“Okay good because I don’t know anything about hockey,” she said truthfully and he laughed and nodded. He gestured at her to go first and they made their way down the hallway until they stopped in the room where the loud chatter was coming from. Most of the girls had finished putting on the uniforms, a couple of them tying their skates and there was one that was practically half naked. 

“Woah!” Luke said, averting his gaze from the tall girl who was only wearing a sports bra and the bottom half of her uniform. “Stacie, can you please finish getting dressed, the practice starts in 10 minutes.” He turned to Chloe. “That reminds me, Chloe, here we have one rule: no sex in the locker room.” 

Chloe‘s eyebrows shot up, not expecting him to say that and she wondered what happened to make this rule a thing. Stacie grinned and threw a wink at her when she noticed the redhead. 

“Hey Luke, who’s the hottie?” Stacie said, moving over to her station to finish getting dressed. At those words, the chatter all stopped and Chloe took a look at every girl individually as Luke explained who she was. It was a very diverse group of girls that all looked like they had nothing in common but the ginger guessed that was the beautiful thing about finding a passion you like and working in teams. 

“This is Chloe. She’s going to be with us for the rest of the season because the sports department from the university made an arrangement with the First Aid classes. She’s kind of an assistant to me to help out when you guys all get hurt at once,” he joked 

“You mean when one of us gets hurt and you already have Beca on your plate so you can’t help us before you deal with her,” one of the girls said and everyone laughed at the comment, even Luke. Chloe quirked an eyebrow, trying to figure out who among them was Beca but nobody spoke up. 

Luke looked at her to explain, “Beca… likes to play dirty but she’s our best player. Her social skills are left to be desired, though.”

“Second best player,” a girl corrected, standing up and walked over to Chloe on her skates to salute her. “My name’s Fat Amy. I’m the goalie.” 

“You call yourself Fat Amy?” Chloe said slowly. 

“Yeah so twig bitches like you don’t do it behind my back.” 

Chloe’s mouth snapped shut and a girl rolled her eyes, pushing Fat Amy out the door. “My name’s Cynthia-Rose. Defense,” she said, looking Chloe up and down and winked at her before joining Fat Amy in the hallway. 

One by one they introduced themselves to Chloe and the redhead smiled kindly at every single one of them as she tried to remember all their names. So far, she had met Stacie, Fat Amy, Cynthia-Rose, Jessica, Ashley, Emily, Flo, some girl whose name she thought was Lilly (she wasn't sure since she spoke so quietly) and she was blanking on the rest of the names. 

Luke made sure that everyone was gone from the locker room and led them in the same direction that all the girls took; towards the ice rink. 

“They’re all nice, you’ll see. It can be a bit intimidating at first but they’re all fun. Loud and messy, but fun,” he reassured her and Chloe nodded, looking at all of the players in the middle of the ice who were surrounding a blonde woman. “That’s Gail, the coach.”

Chloe nodded in understanding. “Do you mind me asking why you're here when it’s just a practice? Do they really need a medical trainer every time they’re on the ice?” 

Luke laughed like she had just told a very funny joke. “Yeah, you’d think they would only need me for the games but not with number 47 back there.” He pointed a finger at a small girl who was facing her back to them. Chloe read  _ MITCHELL _ on the back of her jersey and was standing next to a  _ CONRAD _ which Chloe remembered to be Stacie. Even with skates on, Mitchell looked so small next to the girl. “That’s Beca Mitchell. The captain.” 

“Oh?” she said to show her interest. 

“I’ve seen a lot of women play on this team.” Luke said as the girls all broke away to skate circles around the rink. Probably a warm-up. Number 47 passed right in front of them but with the helmet and the speed, Chloe didn’t have time to see what she looked like. “None were like Mitchell. Fast, agile. It’s like the stick is an extension of her left arm. She’s small so people underestimate her but she’ll body check you in the barn before you can say her name.”

“Is that allowed?” Chloe said, suddenly scared that this game was violent. She wasn’t a fan of violence. 

He laughed. “Nope. But she still does it. Gail keeps saying she’ll suspend Mitchell if she keeps doing that but she knows it won’t happen. They need her too much. The team sucked before she got here. She makes them better.” 

Chloe nodded and watched Gail gather up the women in a circle around her. She threw a few instructions at them and soon the girls all got into some kind of formation. Chloe’s blue eyes followed #47 as she skated effortlessly to the middle of the ice with the puck. Soon, Gail whistled and Beca instantly got in action, going from 0 to a 100 in a matter of seconds. Two girls rushed towards her and Chloe closed her eyes, anticipating the three girls to collide violently but Luke nudged her side.

“Watch this.”

She opened her eyes just in time to see Beca let the puck fly between the legs of the defense, twirl around the player and take it back before another one could get a hold of it. She skated backwards for a few seconds and turned to hit the puck towards the top right corner. The goalie made a move and caught the puck in time and Beca hit her hockey stick violently on the ice. 

“Damn it Amy!” she said, letting Chloe hear her voice for the first time. “All that for nothing.”

“Better luck next time, short stack,” Amy replied and put her hockey blade in front of Beca’s skates so she’d trip but the shorter girl dodged it in time. 

“Hobart! What did I say about tripping the girls with your hockey stick?” Gail said from the side. 

Amy was silent for a moment. “... Do it?” Gail sighed. 

“Let’s do it again!” she said, letting the girls get in position again and she skated slowly to the bench where Chloe and Luke were. “I know you,” she observed with narrowed eyes. 

Chloe stopped herself from rubbing her arms to warm herself up and stood up instantly, remembering her courtesies. “I’m Chloe Beale. I’m in the Barden Bellas, maybe that’s where you know me from.” 

“Oh yeah,” the coach said. “You guys suck.”

Chloe pouted, feeling hurt and sat back down while Luke cleared his throat awkwardly. “She’s gonna be with me for a while because of her First Aid training class.”

“Good. We need all the help we can get,” she said and a loud noise interrupted their conversation and they all turned to see Beca on her butt facing the boards, her hockey stick flying 6 feet away from her. Chloe looked at Luke with worried eyes. 

“Do we need to go help? Because that definitely looked like it hurt.” She imagined the player collided hard with the sidelines, maybe her head even hit the glass. Luke shook his head, drawing something in his notebook. 

“She’ll be okay.” He looked up at Beca. “Sometimes I think she forgets to brake and she figures the boards will do the job. Hasn’t worked that well so far but she keeps doing it.”

An  _ ADAMS _ skated to her and offered her hand to help her get up. It took a long second before the captain finally accepted the hand and got up with her help. Chloe heard a snicker from somewhere and Beca mumbled a “Shut it, Conrad” before picking up her stick again. 

The ginger held back laughter when she saw a girl skate around with the word  _ JUNK  _ written on the back of her jersey. That was a very unfortunate last name. The amusement stopped when Junk got close to Beca and yelped. 

“Beca you’re bleeding!”

Everyone stopped and looked at their captain who looked so small compared to everyone else. Beca made a move to touch her nose but was stopped by her helmet. Gail skated rapidly to Beca, leaving Luke and Chloe at the bench. 

“Told you they needed us even in practice,” Luke said like he wasn’t even worried for Beca that much. “Here, since it’s your first day. I’ll give you the honor. You can go back to the locker room.” He handed her the first aid kit and Chloe bit her lip nervously, looking at the two women coming back their way. Gail tried to put her arm around Beca’s shoulders to help guide her but the girl moved away instantly in a shrug. She opened the door that led to the bench where Chloe was and instantly made her way in the direction of the locker room without sparing a look at them. Luke chuckled, “She knows what to do.” 

Chloe followed the girl, looking at the 47 on her back with her heart beating fast with nerves. Mitchell took off the helmet, revealing dark hair in a low ponytail and brought her hand to her nose. Chloe didn’t move from behind the girl, waiting. 

“Fuck,” she murmured to herself. She turned around to face Chloe and the latter finally had a chance to see what the infamous captain of the Dames looked like. Even with blood coming out of her nose and dripping down her chin onto her green jersey, Chloe’s mouth dried up as she looked at one of the most beautiful girls she had ever seen. She had sharp features, cold blue eyes and a lot of piercings on her ears. Her hand was hanging mid-air with blood on it, like she was trying to catch it while it dripped. Some hairs were sticking to her forehead because of the sweat but it almost looked like she was glowing and her face was red, proving just how hard she was working out there. They were the same height since the girl was in skates but she wondered what their height difference would be without them.

Beca waved a hand in front of her face. “Dude! Who the fuck are you? And get me a tissue!” 

Chloe’s eyes widened and she came back to reality, opening the kit and handing the hockey player a few tissues who grabbed them without a thanks. She wiped her face the best she could and leaned her head back, pinching her nose. It was clearly not the first time that something like that happened since she seemed to know what to do. Beca blindly sat down on a bench and sighed, not even glancing at Chloe. 

The redhead sat down on the bench opposite of her, uncomfortable in the silence. Chloe didn’t like it when it was too quiet. That’s why she surrounded herself with friends as much as she could and if she couldn’t, she would always be singing or humming to herself. Silence meant empty and Chloe worked hard so that her life was far from empty. So it could be full of love, kindness, friends, everything.

“I’m Chloe. Chloe Beale. I’ll be helping out with Luke.” 

Beca side-eyed her and didn’t answer. She just looked her up and down and then she looked at the ceiling again. Chloe squirmed awkwardly on her seat. 

“You’re Beca, right?”

“Yup,” the hockey player said. After a while, she looked at the tissue now drenched in blood and wiped a few times to make sure she wasn’t still bleeding. When she noticed she wasn’t, she walked over and disappeared in the bathroom attached to the locker room. Chloe hugged herself for warmth; it was warmer in the locker room but she had been next to the ice for a while and she was really cold. 

A few minutes later, Beca came out with the dry blood all wiped from her face, except for the jersey where it had dried and stained. Chloe stood up. 

“Do you want me to take a look at it?” 

“No.”

“You don’t need anything else?”   
  


“I need you to let me go back on the ice.”

Chloe’s mouth snapped shut and she tucked a strand of red hair behind her ear. “Right, sorry.” 

Beca just looked at her shivering lips and said, “Next time bring a jacket, Red.” 

She walked out the door, passing right by the ginger, without another word. Chloe ran her fingers through her hair and sighed.

“Well that went well.”

Instead of being annoyed at the hockey player, she found herself intrigued. She wanted to find out why Beca seemed so against starting a conversation with her and why the hell she would get injured so much that it was a running joke in the team? She went back to the ice rink and looked at Lilly who was skating in tight circles around Beca as the latter stood in the middle, the shaft of her hockey stick close to her chest. She was determined to become friends with Beca. Something was pulling her towards her.

“How did it go?” Luke said, pulling her out of her thoughts. 

“Is she always like this?”

He laughed in response and the rest of the practice went by without anything else happening. She didn’t get to share more words with Beca because the girl was the first one out of the locker room since she didn’t talk much with anyone like the rest of the girls. Chloe was chatting with Jessica (or was it Ashley?) when she saw the number 47 leave without even saying bye to anyone.

On her way out, Luke caught up with her. He offered her a boyish smile. “How was your first day?” 

“I really liked it,” Chloe said sincerely, because she did. She got along well with the girls and she could see herself having fun with them. “Beca’s something else, though.”

“Yeah,” he said in a chuckle. “She has her moments where she can be a really good motivator but other than that, she sucks at the talking thing.”

“She seems nice.”

“She does?” he asked, almost surprised. Chloe turned to him with a smile. She had a knack for reading people and Beca was definitely in her radar now. 

“Yeah.” 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a heads up-- I chose a completely random college for the game so it probably doesn't make sense but who really cares, right? Hope you guys like this one.

The Barden Dames had a practice every Tuesday at 4 PM and every Saturday at 9 AM. They had a game once every two weeks during the weekends and they had one the weekend before Chloe started so the next one was in a week. 

The slight inconvenience was that the Bellas had two practices every week too, one Monday at 8 PM and one Friday at 9 PM. 

Which meant that the one morning Chloe would usually allow herself to sleep in, every Saturday, was effectively ruined. After an excruciating Bella practice, she’d have to wake up the next morning early to make it to the arena even though she’d be dead tired. Aubrey was pushing them to the max and they were very far from being good enough.

The problem was that she woke up a teensy bit too late that first Saturday morning and her eyes bulged out of her eyes when she saw she didn’t have time to get ready and make it to the arena in time. She got up in a hurry, ignoring the pain in her legs, and got dressed with the first thing she saw. She figured she could get something to eat from the vending machine and grabbed a hoodie just in time before yelling her goodbyes at Aubrey who was somewhere in the house. 

She refused to drive over the speed limit, though so she pulled into the arena’s parking lot at 9:15 and she cursed herself for being late. That was a very bad impression on the second day. She ran through the parking lot, almost getting hit by a car in the process, and she rushed through the arena to make it to the ice rink. Luke spotted her from afar and waved her over to the players' bench where a player named  _ Fuentes _ was sitting next to him. 

“Holy shit I am so sorry,” she said before he could even say something. “I had a Bellas rehearsal yesterday and it ended late and I’m not used to waking up this early on Saturdays and I set up an alarm but I slept through it. I swear it will never happen again that’s incredibly unprofessional.”

Luke and Flo looked at her for a while in silence after her ramble before the hockey player chuckled. “In my country, you would be fired on the spot.” 

“I’m not technically hired…” she tried to say but the hockey player jumped over the board and rejoined her team who were practicing slap shots (a term that Chloe had learned last Tuesday). 

“It’s okay, Chloe.” Luke said, waving a hand off. “Just don’t let it happen again.”

She nodded seriously and paid attention to what was happening on the ice. She looked just in time to see Beca get ready for her turn. She played with the puck a little, sliding it from side to side. She made Amy believe she was gonna shoot the puck in a direction before moving at the last second and scoring a goal. 

“Suck on that, Ames!” Beca said, throwing a fist in the air and Chloe grinned to herself, wondering if Beca was smiling right now and what that looked like.

“Yeah, yeah....” the goalie said, waving at Beca to move out of the way so Lilly could take her shot. Beca did a little twirl on her skates and skated past the bench, stopping when she saw Chloe. She took an abrupt brake, sending a whiff of ice everywhere and put one glove on the board separating them. 

“Thought we scared you off, Red.” 

Chloe raised an eyebrow, “I don’t scare easily.” It’s true. She was a very determined person. When she wanted something, she was going to get it. She could see the hint of a smile through Beca’s helmet, though maybe she was imagining it. 

“Nice hoodie.”

She looked down at herself and smiled when she saw the Hogwarts logo from Harry Potter. 

“Thanks!” Chloe said, ignoring Beca’s sarcasm. 

“Yo BM! Legacy just said she’s faster than you!” Stacie said, capturing Beca’s attention. 

“What?” she said, whipping her head back.

Emily shook her head violently, “Wait no! That’s not true, I didn’t!”

“Yeah, she did!” Cynthia-Rose said and Chloe put her chin on her hand, observing the exchange with amusement. 

“Beca, I swear--”

Gail suddenly appeared from behind and sat next to Luke. “Why did they stop?”

“Race!” Beca shouted and Gail sighed when she got her response. Everyone clapped in excitement except for Emily who looked like she wanted to be anywhere but here. 

Cynthia-Rose took off her helmet and put it between her arm and her waist. “The rules of the race are simple,” she said loudly through the arena, making her voice echo. “The players will start at the goal line,” she pointed to the goal where Amy still was with her hockey stick and skated a little to the left, “and end at the goal line on the other side.” 

“I hate my life,” Gail muttered, putting her face in her hands. 

Luke chuckled and turned to Chloe to explain. “This kinda thing happens more than Gail wishes it did. It’s better to let them do it and get it over with than discipline them sometimes.”

The girls all lined up from one goal line to the other except for Beca and Emily who lined up from each side of the goal. Chloe was smiling, excited to see what was going to happen and how the girls seemed used to doing these kinds of things, so much they had  _ rules _ . 

“Might I remind everyone that our little rocket here has been an undefeated race champion since the beginning of the season,” Stacie said to antagonize Emily even more. Beca took a bow under all the claps and the ginger finally understood why they made Beca the captain. For some reason, even with her lack of social skills, everyone seemed to listen to her and admire her. They were drawn to her and Chloe couldn’t deny she felt the same attraction.

“Ready?” Cynthia-Rose shouted from the red line in the middle and when both girls nodded, she put her hockey stick high in the air. “Set. GO!” she shouted, her stick going down. 

Both girls instantly started moving and Chloe watched with avid eyes as Beca skated fast, really fast. Faster than Chloe had ever seen someone skate. Emily was tall and her legs could have saved her but it was no match to the speed that Beca was going at. Everyone was shouting loudly as the distance between the two became bigger and bigger.

Except, when it came time to slow down at the goal line on the other side, number 47 had picked up too much speed and couldn’t slow down in time, thus making her crash into the wall with force. All the girls gasped at the sound that the collision made and the hockey player fell backwards, her head hitting the ice so hard that Chloe saw it bounce before she stayed still on the ice.

Everyone rushed to her, Luke included, except Chloe because she didn’t have skates on. She gripped the board with white knuckles, hating how helpless she felt. All the girls were in a circle around her, looking down at their captain, shouting in worry before Luke snapped. 

“Girls! Leave her some space!”

They all apologized at the same time and backed off. Emily was the closest to the bench so Chloe waved her over. She had taken off her helmet and the redhead could see the worry all over her face. 

“Hey this isn’t your fault.”

“But--”

“This isn’t your fault,” Chloe said firmly and Emily nodded, the frown not leaving her expression. Luke put his arm around Beca to help her stand up and the ginger saw how Beca tried to shrug him off but she was too out of it to really do it. 

“Chloe — here help me,” he said once they got close to the bench and Chloe went to Beca’s other side and made the girl hang onto her. The girl smelled like ice and sweat but there was also a hint of coconut that made the ginger smile. The two helpers carried Beca to the locker room where she finally seemed to get over the shock. 

“I’ll just take a break for 2 minutes and go back,” she said after sitting down. 

“Right,” Luke said in a chuckle. “Chloe, stay with her. I’m gonna go make sure the girls back there are alright.”

“Dude, let me go back!” Beca called out after him but Luke had already left. 

She took off her helmet in a huff and Chloe bit her lip at the sight. There was something so… hot about Beca taking off her helmet and her hair sticking out everywhere. Her face was slightly red from the physical effort but she still looked great. She looked at Chloe and then leaned her head back against the wall, saying nothing.

Chloe lasted 2 whole minutes before she couldn’t handle the quiet anymore.

“You okay?”

“Never been better,” Beca said sharply. 

Chloe closed her mouth and didn’t shy away from looking at Beca, inspecting her the most she could. The sarcasm, the closed-off attitude, where did it all come from? Chloe wanted to find out so bad.

“I could bring you some ice for the back of your head.”

“M’fine, Red.” She crossed her arms on her chest and closed her eyes. Chloe wasn’t sure if she was lying so she figured she’d just get her some ice whether she wanted it or not.

When she came back 5 minutes later, Beca hadn’t moved but she did open one eye for a brief second at the sound of someone sitting down. 

“Thought you left.”

“That’s not really a thing I do.”

Beca opened her eyes and looked at her with an indescribable expression. One that said a lot of things, but nothing that Chloe could read. Yet. 

So she just handed her the ice and tried to keep her smile to the minimum when Beca took it and held it at the back of her head. They fell back into a silence that made Chloe’s skin itch. 

“Does your head hurt? We wouldn’t want you to get a concussion.”

Beca shrugged. “I’ve gotten a concussion before and it’s not like that. Think it’s just the shock that knocked me out a little.”

“That looked really bad.”

“I miscalculated how far the line was. Guess I’m just even faster than I thought,” Beca smirked arrogantly. Chloe scoffed to hide the fact that she thought her expression was way more attractive than it should be. 

“How long have you been playing hockey?” Chloe said before they could fall into another silence and Beca quirked an eyebrow up. The redhead wasn’t sure why the idea of her wanting to get to know the athlete was so amusing. 

At the same time, the chatter of the girls filled the hallway and a second later, the Dames entered the room one by one. Chloe pinched her lips together, almost disappointed. 

“How are you doing, captain?” Cynthia-Rose said, settling down next to Beca and untying her skates. Beca smirked at Chloe before looking at her teammate. 

“You know me, I bounce right back up.”

Cynthia-Rose snickered and started to take off her uniform as the Dames all threw a comment or two at their captain to make sure she was alright. Chloe observed meticulously the fact that not one of them touched Beca, except for a tap on the shoulder pad.

“Chloe?” Luke’s voice pulled her out of her thoughts and she looked at the doorway to see his head peeking through. “Come.”

No one really paid attention to her leaving and she followed Luke to the small office she saw at the entrance. She was about to follow him in but he stopped her,

“That’s the arena director’s office, you’re not allowed in since you’re just a trainee.”

“Oh.”

“Just wanted to tell you this is where we keep more of our supplies in case of an emergency. In the kit I carry, we have the bare minimum. As in as few band-aids, tissues and bandages but this one has more.” He pulled out a box and took out a few items to show her. “Thermometer, flashlight, instant ice packs, antiseptic wipes, sterile gauze pads and more. If you ever need something that’s not in the small kit, you can come in here. But only if it’s an emergency.”

“Got it.” 

He nodded and put back everything in the box, sliding it under a desk. He stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him. 

When she went back to the locker room to say bye to the Dames, Beca was gone.

… 

It was a couple of hours before Tuesday’s practice and Chloe was enjoying the fact that her class had been cancelled. Aubrey and her decided to get coffee at the café on campus to study together somewhere other than the house. It was a beautiful house but it was big, way too big for only two girls and Chloe studied better with mindless chatter around her. 

Chloe had her textbook opened in front of her, begging her to learn more about her Animal Biotechnology class, but she would rather continue her conversation with her best friend on her First Aid class assignment. 

“I’m telling you, it’s fun!” she said with a smile. 

“It seems violent.”

“It’s women’s hockey, Bree. It’s not like men’s hockey,” she said, ignoring the fact that was a blatant lie due to one Beca Mitchell. 

“Didn’t you tell me one girl had a nose bleed your first day?”

Damn. She forgot she had told her about that. She was about to answer when she saw the girl in question walk through the door of the coffee shop, going straight to the counter to order. Chloe’s eyes lit up.

“That’s her!”

Aubrey looked back and scrunched her nose, “oh. She seems a little… alternative.”

Chloe ignored her and waved a hand, “Beca! Hi!” The girl in question ducked her head when she got a few looks and quickly made her way to the table where the two girls were sitting. 

“Red,” the hockey player said and Aubrey lifted an unimpressed eyebrow at the name. It was a stupid nickname but Chloe had to admit she kinda liked it. 

“I’m Aubrey,” her friend said in a sharp tone, not pleased at how Beca ignored her. 

Beca nodded. “Beca.”

There was a strange moment of tension as Aubrey looked the athlete up and down. Chloe decided to break the silence. 

“What are you doing here?”

“Getting coffee,” Beca said in a tight smile, pointing behind her and Chloe would have been embarrassed at the tone because  _ duh _ but she wasn’t someone that got embarrassed easily. 

“Fun! I’m studying with Bree here while she’s planning our set.”

“Set?”

Chloe smiled a smile that showed all her teeth. “We’re in an acapella group together. The Barden Bellas.”

“Oh right, this is like a thing now.”

“Totes! We sing covers of songs without any instruments. It’s all from our mouths.”

Beca smiled sarcastically as she replied, “Yikes. Isn’t that kind of… lame?”

“Aca scuse me? Synchronized lady dancing to a Mariah Carey chart topper is not lame, you bitch,” Aubrey interrupted their conversation, hand turning into a fist. Beca quirked an eyebrow up, smiling at the reaction she got out of the blonde. 

“Aubrey!” Chloe said and Beca smirked. 

“Jesse told me the Bellas were…  _ particular _ . Now I see,” she said and Chloe squirmed uncomfortably on her seat at the tension between the two in front of her. 

“Jesse?” Aubrey asked rudely. 

“Yeah, he’s a Troublemaker or Treble whatever it is. He’s also a hockey player.”

Chloe closed her eyes at the mention of the Trebles. This wasn’t going to help the conversation steer in the right direction. Aubrey opened her mouth in an offended manner but the ginger cut her off to change the subject before she could call Beca a bitch again. 

“Do you sing?”

“Nope,” she said in her typical Beca manner; short and sweet. Her name was suddenly called out from the cashier at the front and she turned around. “See you later, Red,” she called out, completely ignoring Aubrey. Chloe watched her leave with avid eyes and she smiled when Beca took one last look at her before leaving the coffee shop. The blonde in front of her waved a hand in her face to capture her attention. 

“I don’t like her.”

Chloe bit her lower lip to contain her smile. “She’s… intriguing.”

“She’s rude is what she is,” Aubrey mumbled and turned her attention back to her laptop which meant she was done with the conversation. She wasn’t that surprised that the two girls didn’t get along but she wasn’t expecting the conversation to be so messy. Aubrey took a while to let people in and with the little that Chloe knew about Beca, she could say the same thing about the hockey player so it made sense they clashed. 

She finally looked down at her text book to study, already excited for practice later. 

… 

Chloe made it to practice 20 minutes in advance that day to make up for last time. She wanted to show Luke her tardiness had been a one time thing and that she took this assignment seriously. At the end of the season, he was going to have to evaluate her and since Chloe wasn’t the best at paying attention in class, she really needed all the good grades she could get and this was an easy A. 

All she had to do was show initiative and prove that she could react well when faced with an injury. It was good that she was paired with the Dames, because it seemed like she was going to have a lot of practice with Beca Mitchell as one of the players. 

For the first time, she had a chance to see Beca getting ready with her teammates in the locker room. She leaned on the doorway, observing everyone sprawled around the room, chatting together loudly. Jessica, Lilly and Ashley were having a conversation and Fat Amy was showing some questionable dance moves to a scared-looking Emily and an amused Stacie. 

Next to them was Beca who was glancing up at the goalie from time to time to laugh at her but she was mainly focused on putting her uniform on. Her hair wasn’t in a ponytail yet and Chloe bit her lip at the sight of the long dark hair over the shoulder pads and the concentrated look on her face as she tied her pants. 

Stacie was the first to notice her. 

“Hey  _ Red _ ,” the tallest of the girls said, like she was mocking the nickname. The number 47 looked up instantly but as soon as she caught Chloe’s eyes, her face went neutral again and she got back to her task like she didn’t care about the ginger. She pushed Stacie’s hand away without a word when the latter tried to tickle her. 

“Hey Chloe,” a few of the girls said at the same time and she smiled, happy to see the girls were getting used to seeing her here. 

She couldn’t help but notice Beca seemed to be the only one that didn’t tell her hi but she didn’t take it personally. If Beca thought she could keep Chloe away from her, she had the wrong idea. 

Coach Gail entered the room before anything else could happen. 

“Alright girls,” she said, grabbing everyone’s attention. “As you guys know we have a game next week. Against… “ she checked her clipboard “... Utica College. They lost their past three games so it shouldn’t be too hard but it’s not an excuse to slack off. Since the match is Saturday we’re not going to have another practice until the game so I want you guys to give it all you got.” 

The girls all made a sound of agreement and Chloe looked at Beca who had finished putting on her uniform and who was tying her skates. Looking up when she was done, she caught Chloe’s eyes and surprisingly held the eye contact until Stacie clapped her back loudly. 

“Come on cap, you got a head injury to get to,” she said, getting up and there were a few laughs around the room. 

“Shut up,” the girl mumbled, putting on her helmet and Chloe was almost disappointed at the fact that she couldn’t look at the player’s face as well anymore.

“Yeah try to be careful this time, Mitchell. We need you strong for the game,” Gail said and looked at all the girls. “No race today. I’m making you guys work hard, I hope you’re ready.”

There were a few grumbles on the way but as soon as they were on the ice, all the girls turned a switch and got to work. Well, except for Amy who would lay down completely on the ice from time to time and have Gail whistle at her loudly right next to Luke and Chloe. 

Chloe liked hockey more than she thought she would. She liked trying to figure out how it worked, asking Luke a few questions here and there to understand the rules of the game. She liked the way the girls seemed to always know what the others were going to do, moving in sync together towards a goal (no pun intended). It reminded her a lot of the Bellas and she thought that maybe that was her problem with the team this year. They didn’t know each other and didn’t communicate together to make sure they all wanted the same thing. Aubrey was the leader and she decided what to do without caring if the others wanted to do that. 

She watched Beca move around the ice and Chloe wondered if the girl was a dancer because the way she moved was so fluid. She was concentrated today and Chloe could tell by the way she wouldn’t participate in the usual teasing the Dames all did on the ice and she would get back in position after scoring a goal immediately. 

“Alright girls!” Gail whistled and the girls all stopped skating, hands on their thighs to catch their breaths. “Hit the showers, good practice today!” 

One by one, they passed by Chloe and Luke to go in the direction of the showers and the redhead was going to get up when Cynthia-Rose stopped in front of them.

“Yo Luke, I tripped yesterday and didn’t think anything of it but my ankle’s been kind of bothering me all practice.”

He nodded and gestured at her to come closer. “Let’s take a look.” Chloe got up to leave space for the player to sit next to Luke and paid attention to what Luke was going to do because that was what she was here for. When Cynthia-Rose took off her right skate, Luke bent down and grabbed her ankle with a thumb and two fingers. 

He would ask her a few questions from time to time like where it hurt and the way it felt. After a while, he leaned back and looked at her. “Well you probably just strained a muscle lightly because I can’t really feel anything. But to be sure we can put a bandage on it to make sure you don’t make it worse.” He looked around and grabbed the first aid kit and handed it to the medical trainee. “Here. You learned how to put a bandage on, right?”

She nodded and kneeled down to bandage the ankle, careful to not hurt the hockey player. Since Cynthia-Rose and Luke didn’t comment, she assumed she was doing the right thing. It took maybe longer than if their usual medical trainer had done it but she finally stood up, satisfied with the result. Luke inspected it and nodded. 

“Good job,” he said before turning back to Cynthia-Rose. “Just try to be careful till the game. Don’t move around too much, don’t apply too much pressure on it for no reason. Like maybe don’t go for a run until you’re sure you don’t feel any pain.”

The college athlete nodded and fist-bumped Luke. “Thanks Allen.” She turned around to face Chloe. “Thanks Beale.”

“No problem!” she answered enthusiastically She was so glad she helped that without thinking, she threw her arms around the girl and hugged her. Thankfully, Cynthia-Rose seemed okay with it because she chuckled and hugged Chloe back briefly. 

“Alright, I’m gonna take all this off,” the hockey player said before walking out on one skate. 

“Here,” Luke said, sliding his pants up to show his ankle. “I’ll give you a trick to go quicker next time.”

For the next 20 minutes, they talked about techniques on how to be efficient and bandage an injury the best way possible. Chloe listened to everything he said carefully and mimicked what he did on her own ankle and when he was satisfied with what she did, he let her go. 

She passed by the locker room and saw all the girls dressing up in their regular clothes after taking a shower. She quickly took a look at all of them and wasn’t surprised to see Beca wasn’t there. Except, her stuff was still in her area which meant she was still around. Without thinking, Chloe made her way to the back of the room where the door to the showers was. 

When she opened it, she was instantly met with the sound of someone singing and she stopped in her tracks. The voice was beautiful, like  _ really  _ beautiful and whoever it was showed great control over their own voice. Something that took years of training for a lot of people. She closed the door silently behind her, making sure to not disturb the person and make them stop singing. She walked until she was at the closed curtain where the voice was coming from and opened it slowly, a grin on her face. 

She looked at the dark hair, the flower tattoo on her right shoulder and Chloe could see a few bruises on her arms and legs, even some scars could be seen. She listened to the song a few more seconds before she couldn’t contain herself anymore. 

“You can sing!”

Beca turned around in seconds, her eyes widening. “Dude!” she said, closing the curtains. Chloe opened it again instantly and reached over to close the water.

“How high does your belt go?”

“My what? Oh my God,” Beca said, trying to hide her chest the best she could with her shampoo bottle.

“I can’t believe you told me you didn’t sing! You could even join the Bellas.”

“I can’t concentrate on anything you’re saying until I can fully cover up my junk.”

“You should think about it. One time we sang backup for Prince,” Chloe continued with enthusiasm while Beca used the shower curtains to cover herself up. “His butt is so tiny that I can hold it with like, one hand,” she joked and knocked over the shampoo bottle by accident. “Oops!” 

“Seriously? I am  _ nude _ ,” Beca stated, turning her back to Chloe. 

Chloe looked at herself and felt bad that the hockey player was in fact nude and she was fully dressed. So she did what any sane person would do and grabbed the hem of her hoodie, taking it off along with her shirt and leaving only her bra. Beca’s eyes dropped down to her chest with wide eyes and the redhead smirked. At least, she was wearing one of her good bras today. 

“You were singing Titanium, right?”

Beca looked up at her eyes again and Chloe saw the hint of a smile form on her face. “You know David Guetta?” 

“Have I been living under a rock? That song is my jam,” she said, nodding her head and then got slightly closer to the brunette and lowered her voice. “My lady jam.” 

“That’s nice,” Beca said, breaking eye contact to face the wall. 

“It is. That song really builds.” Chloe added a wink when Beca looked at her after a beat and she frowned. 

“Gross.” 

“Will you sing it for me?”

“Dude no! Get out!” Beca said and Chloe rolled her eyes. 

“Not for that reason! I’m not leaving here until you sing so,” she said, putting her hands on her hips and taking a deep breath through her nose. Beca forced a smile, turning around slowly. She opened her mouth and closed it a couple of times before admitting her defeat.

_ “I’m bulletproof, nothing to lose.”  _

Chloe joined in immediately, their voices blending together and creating a perfect harmony. Cold blue eyes stayed focused on ocean blue ones and Chloe couldn’t keep the smile off her face. Beca seemed to get more confident too as she let an easy smile on her face, her arms sliding to her side. Chloe held the last note a little longer and then they fell into an easy silence, even Beca couldn’t contain the smile on her face.

She seemed to remember what was happening soon enough though, because she crossed her arms and looked down at Chloe’s chest for half a second before looking up at the ceiling. 

“Oh yeah. I don’t really shy away from that kind of stuff. I’m pretty confident about all this,” she said in a flirty tone.

What she didn’t expect was Beca to answer back “You should be” with her eyes on Chloe’s chest.

She grinned, putting her shirt back on. “Have a nice shower!” she called out before leaving the room. A few of the girls were still there and everyone stopped talking when Chloe came out the door. Stacie had a grin on her face and Amy and Cynthia-Rose were snickering in the corner. The redhead shrugged with a smile on her face. 

“See you at the game next weekend, girls!” she said, walking out the room. She was pretty sure they all burst into laughter as soon as she left and heard one of them say: 

“Didn’t she have her hoodie on when she went in there?” 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> once again would like to say that I don't know anything about hockey so if some of you guys like the sport and think what I've written is dumb: completely fair lmao.

“I wonder why she didn’t want to join the Bellas,” Chloe commented to Aubrey as they were tidying up the auditorium after their rehearsal. She lost count of how many times she brought up Beca’s voice in the past three days but the redhead hadn’t been able to shake it off. The hockey player truly had one of the most beautiful singing voices she had ever heard.

Aubrey sighed, “I don’t know and I don’t care.” 

“But she’s so good, Bree. She should definitely be a Bella.”

“I probably wouldn’t have even accepted her anyways with her ear monstrosities,” Aubrey said, erasing the white board and Chloe rolled her eyes. 

“Piercings are a very common thing, Aubrey. Besides you didn’t hear her voice, it was like--”

“Whatever and besides if she hangs out with a Treble, she probably has a toner for him.” 

The redhead frowned at the thought while folding the chairs. She didn’t want the conversation to go in that direction so she changed the subject. 

“You know, the Dames are good because of the way they work together. Beca is really good at reminding them that they’re a team and I thought that we could learn a few things from her for--”

“Oh my God, Chlo” Aubrey snapped, turning to her. “I am not about to take advice on how to run  _ my _ team by a  _ rude hockey player _ that’s too pathetic to remember your own fucking name. Enough about Becky.” 

Chloe’s shoulders slumped and she looked at the ground. “Beca,” she couldn’t help but correct.

“Whatever, Chloe. Can you hand me my bag?” The redhead looked at the bag on the ground next to her and hesitated for a second. Aubrey had always been snappy but that had truly hurt Chloe’s feelings. She decided on walking away, passing by the blonde without saying a word. “Wha-- Chloe!” Aubrey called out but she ignored her, walking out the auditorium with tears building up in her eyes. 

She hated when people spoke to her that way. She tried everyday to be kind to everyone and it had been a struggle, especially when she worked in customer service as a teenager but she still remained sweet to everyone. But to have someone speak that harshly to her like that always brought up bad feelings in her and to have her best friend talk to her like that hurt. Aubrey had had  _ one  _ interaction with Beca and decided she was the worst human possible and Chloe had enough of that attitude. How can you not always believe the best in people?

She entered the empty Bellas’ house and went straight upstairs. Usually, she would hang out with Aubrey a little, maybe watch a movie, but not tonight. And she had a game to wake up for tomorrow anyway so she didn’t waste time before showering and going straight to bed. She was scrolling on her phone when she heard a soft knock on her door. 

“Chloe? Are you asleep?”

She didn’t feel like talking to Aubrey so she shut off her phone and turned her back to the door, pretending to be asleep in case her friend opened the door. She heard a sigh and then footsteps walking away. 

… 

She woke up at 9 AM that day because the game was at 10 AM which she appreciated. She considered herself an early bird and she didn’t mind waking up early but sleeping in on weekends has always been a thing she appreciated even more. Still, she got up and tiptoed around the house while she got ready. She took her time because the game was at home and the arena was only 10 minutes away. 

Right as she slipped on her jean jacket, Aubrey walked down the stairs. They both noticed each other at the same time and the blonde stopped in the middle of the stairs. 

“Good morning.”

Chloe smiled a little, “Good morning.”

“You’re going to the game?”

“Yeah.”

There was a beat of silence and Aubrey said. “Can we talk when you come back?”

Chloe nodded, weight lifting from her shoulders a little. “Of course, Bree.”

“Tell them break a leg-- or good luck, I don’t know the lingo,” Aubrey tried, which Chloe appreciated. 

“I will.”

She grabbed her keys and walked out the door. She put on the radio as soon as she started her car and snickered to herself when Titanium started playing. She sang along to the song, happy about the little moment she shared the other day with Beca the other day(which she might need to apologize for today, looking back on it). She also hoped that the small hockey player wouldn’t get hurt this time since it was game day. 

She pulled into the parking lot and was surprised at how many cars that were there. She didn’t think about the fact that parents and families would also be attending the game so next time, she would probably get there earlier to have parking space. She didn’t sleep too well because of the fight-- though this morning did calm her down-- so she wasn’t feeling 100% today but she was still going to try to be as supportive to the girls as she could for the first game she attended. 

The lobby was packed and she said “excuse me”, “pardon me” about a dozen times before finally making it to the hallway that led to the locker rooms. She passed by a full locker room with girls that wore orange jerseys and she gave them a quick look before heading down to the Dames locker room. 

She bumped into Lilly on her way in who mumbled something she couldn’t hear and walked in the direction of the lobby. 

“Hey Chloe,” Luke said, grabbing her attention and she looked at him and Gail. 

She smiled politely. “Hi.” There was a particular energy in the locker room right now, the girls were all ready and they looked like they were buzzing with excitement and nervousness. She guessed that was the way it seemed for an outsider when they walked backstage before a competition too. She noticed Beca in the corner, far away from everybody. She was wearing headphones and listening to music with her eyes closed, head leaned back against the wall. She looked beautiful, Chloe thought, with her hockey uniform on and her hair down, the dark hair color against the green jersey. Beautiful  _ and _ hot, if she was honest. 

“She does this every time,” Jessica said. 

“What?” Chloe asked, she was so deep in thoughts that she wasn’t even sure if she was actually entertaining a conversation with the hockey player before. 

“Beca. She shuts us all down for 30 minutes before the game, then she somehow motivates all of us in 2 sentences and then we go on the ice and win.” 

Chloe nodded thoughtfully and wondered what was happening in the captain’s mind right now. Gail clapped her hands twice to grab everyone’s attention.

“Alright girls, huddle up!” All the girls clambered to her, a few “Ow!” being heard as they form a circle. “Hobart, you have sharp blades attached to your feet, stop kicking people. Anyways, I already told you guys everything that you needed to know earlier, you know the plays you know what to do. Mitchell, I’m counting on you to start us off strong. Adams, I want you in Hobart’s field of view at all times, she needs to know she can count on her defense.” Every girl nodded and Gail looked at Beca. 

She cleared her throat and Chloe smiled before she even started speaking. “Alright guys, this is just like always. Kick some ass out there, you know you can do it. I love you awesome nerds.” 

“Yeah!” Amy said loudly so the team down the hallway could hear them. “You bunch of dicks!” 

Everyone laughed and tapped on each other’s shoulder pads messily as they tried to fit through the door frame at the same time. Beca passed by Chloe and the redhead managed to tell her what she wanted to tell her since she got here.

“Make good choices.”

The captain actually  _ laughed _ which boosted Chloe’s ego to the max and she smirked at her. “I’ll see you at the end of the match, Red.” Chloe hoped she was right and she wouldn’t see her before.

The stands were crawled with people sporting green or orange accessories depending on who they cheered for and Chloe felt the vibrant energy from the place all the way to her bones. She loved events like these, she loved feeling the nervousness in the air before a competition and it felt good to be on another side of it for once. She stood at the back with Luke and Gail behind the bench as the players from both teams warmed up on the ice. 

A few minutes later, a woman sang the national anthem and then the players that were starting on the bench joined the adults and Chloe. The players on the ice all got into their positions but Chloe kept her eyes on number 47 who skated to the middle smoothly. Beca used her right hand to motion a “cut throat” gesture to the girl on the opposite team in front of her which made Chloe chuckle to herself. A referee whistled and suddenly the game had started. 

The sound of hockey sticks clinking against one another echoed through the arena and Chloe lost sight of the puck before she saw Cynthia-Rose skate to it and move around Amy’s goal before passing it to Stacie who passed it to Beca quickly because she had a player of the Pioneers coming straight towards her. Everything was happening really fast and she was glad she was becoming familiar with everyone’s jersey number so she could know who had the puck. 

Beca was in game mode and it was obvious; whether she was playing or not, her eyes were focused on the ice. Chloe saw a few girls talk to her on the bench and the number 47 would answer with a one word answer without looking away from the action. The only person that talked to her was Gail and Chloe was going to respect that. So she stayed on the side, trying to focus on the game but turns out hockey is a lot more complicated than she thought it was just watching the girls practice.

Right before the first period ended, Beca scored a goal. Chloe barely had time to see what was happening, she could only see the back of people’s jerseys whether they were green or orange, surrounding the opposite team’s goalie but suddenly an air horn was heard and the Dames all jumped on Beca. Chloe clapped and cheered loudly next to Luke, because even though she hadn’t seen it, she felt proud for the Dames.

Second period ended 2-1 for the Dames. Stacie scored with Beca as an assist less than 2 minutes after the Pioneers scored their first goal. Chloe didn’t mind that Beca hadn’t so much taken a look at her since the beginning of the game because she actually found  _ Concentrated Beca _ really attractive. Besides she was just thankful she hadn’t had a reason to talk to her meaning the player hadn’t hurt herself. 

Obviously, she jinxed herself because right in the middle of the third period, Beca body checked a player right on the boards next to where the home bench was. Both the players’ heads collided hard on the glass with the action but Beca didn’t back away, trying to kick the puck with her blades to pass it to one of the Dames. The Pioneer pushed her off violently and Beca regained her balance on her skates before pushing the girl against the glass again, this time completely intentional. The referee whistled but Beca was mad now and before the girl could even attack her again, she threw her hockey stick down, ready for something. Cynthia-Rose flew towards Beca when the small hockey player raised her fist in the air to throw a punch and she stopped her from attacking the girl for no reason. The referee whistled loudly again and Beca pushed herself off her teammate’s arms, skating towards her stick. 

Beca listened to what the man told her before skating to the penalty box lazily. Chloe chewed on her lip uncomfortably while Gail shouted something at the referee and Beca in anger. 

“Told you she had a bad temper,” Luke told her and Chloe turned to him. He rolled his eyes at Beca’s attitude and she took a look at the coach.

“This girl will be the death of me I swear,” she mumbled to herself. All the players on the bench looked at their coach and Gail sighed, looking at them. “Anyone wanna tell me why the fuck your captain can’t keep her shit together long enough for us to win a game without her ass ending up in the box?”

No one answered and Chloe grew uncomfortable at the tension. She looked at Beca in the penalty box and noticed some blood running down her face from her eyebrow; she must have hurt herself when her head collided with the glass even with the helmet protecting her.

One of the Pioneers scored while Beca was in a penalty and Gail shouted a string of curses and looked at Beca who was kicking her skates on the door absently. Once her time was up, Beca jumped out the box and immediately skated towards the puck at an impressive speed. 

Chloe perked up like everyone else in the stands did and she watched in awe as the number 47 skillfully got a hold of the puck and zigzagged between players towards the opposite goal. She raised her stick for a slapshot and the sound of her hockey blade hitting the puck echoed through the arena as the biscuit went straight to the back of the goal. The air horn blew as Chloe jumped in place, happily clapping along with the rest of the crowd and the Dames hugged. 

Chloe looked at Gail’s happy face and when Beca came back to the bench, all the coach did was give her a thumbs up with a wink. Just another reason why Beca was the captain, after all. Her attitude sucked but even the redhead could see just how talented she was. 

The buzzer signaled the end of the match shortly after and the fans of the Barden Dames cheered loudly, making the walls of the arena shake. Chloe felt genuine joy over this win as she watched the girls all huddle up together in victory. 

After congratulating the other team, the Dames went back to their locker room and celebrated loudly their win. The redhead watched them with a smile and was happily surprised when Jessica and Ashley hugged her too. Beca was also smiling widely, the dry blood on her face not bothering her a little bit as she celebrated with her team.

Stacie put her arm around the number 47 who didn’t even push her away and shouted, “Party in the courtyard at 9 tonight, girls!” Everyone cheered and the tall girl pointed at the redhead. “You’re invited, Beale!”

She laughed and nodded, her heart bursting with the realization that the girls here really liked her. “I will be there,” she answered and caught steel blue eyes. Beca licked her lips and before she looked away, Chloe pointed to the spot Beca hurt herself on her face and then gestured at her to follow her. 

Without even checking if the brunette was following her, she made her way to the director’s office to grab some antiseptic wipes to clean her wound. She used the key that Luke had given her and when she pulled out the medical kit, Beca appeared in the doorway. She knew she’d probably get in trouble if she was caught here because she got this key only for emergencies but Chloe had always been somewhat of a rule breaker when it came to pretty girls.

“Sit,” Chloe instructed and to her surprise, Beca did. Chloe leaned on the desk in front of the chair and raised a hand. She was going to grab her face but she figured she should ask before touching her. “May I?”

Beca audibly swallowed, keeping her face neutral. “Yeah.” 

With her thumb and her index, she gently grabbed Beca’s chin and moved her head to the left so she could see her right eyebrow better. It was a small cut, nothing that would be a problem but Chloe took it as an opportunity to spend some time with the mysterious brunette. 

“Congratulations,” she said after inspecting the injury. “I was impressed by how good you were.”

“Thank you,” Beca replied politely, a small blush on her face that made Chloe smile. 

“This might sting a little,” she warned before starting to clean Beca’s face. The girl flinched a little at the contact but she relaxed quickly under her touch. “How many times are we going to meet like this, Beca?” she teased a little. 

“I didn’t ask you to do this,” the hockey player replied but there was no venom in her voice. 

“Mhm,” Chloe said with a smile, continuing her task. She got closer to Beca and she swore she heard the girl’s breath itch. “I think we should make a deal.”

“What deal?”

“I think that every time we end up like this, with me helping you out with an injury, you need to tell me something about yourself.” 

Beca snorted and Chloe looked at her like she didn’t know what was funny about that. Beca’s smile disappeared. “Oh you’re serious.”

“Totes!”

“Uh… why?” 

Chloe rolled her eyes and wiped the side of Beca’s face to make sure there was no blood left. “Because I want to get to know you,” she replied simply. 

“Why?”

“Just tell me anything, Beca. Whatever you want, you can choose. As long as it’s something about you,” Chloe said, grabbing the desk with her hands to lean on it when she was done with cleaning the cut. 

Beca hesitated, “Okay… something about me. I… wish this conversation wasn’t happening right now?” 

Chloe laughed, “nice try. Come on.” Beca rolled her eyes but then started to really think about it. 

“Okay um well I am currently studying here with an undeclared major.”

Chloe perked up about the fact that she genuinely just learned something about Beca.

“How come?”

“Because I’m only here because my dad forced me to,” she said in a bored tone, leaning back on her chair. Second information. It was probably a matter of time before Beca got up to take a shower and leave the arena so Chloe wanted to make the most of it. 

“If he didn’t force you to be here, what would you be doing?”

Beca opened her mouth and then closed it, smirking up at the redhead. Crap. She had been made. 

“I guess you’ll have to wait for the next time I get hurt,” she said, getting up from her chair. Chloe stood up too and relished in the half second that they spent really close to each other between the chair and the desk before Beca moved out of the way. 

“Or you could just tell me now and not injure yourself for no reason” Chloe called out before Beca left. She perked up at a thought, “Wait Beca!” The hockey player turned to her at the doorway, balancing on one skate. “I’m majoring in Animal studies. Just thought this should be a give and take.”

Beca smirked.

“See you at the party, Red.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. Updating this fic seems a lot more different after we just got the bechloe kiss. I still can't believe we finally got it after all this time. Seems like yesterday we found it it was a thing that existed but at the same time, it feels as though we've waited for 10 years. I don't know about you guys but I'm psyched. Sure, it wasn't perfect but I'm still really fucking happy. 
> 
> On that note, hope you guys enjoy going back to simpler times with our Beca and Chloe from pitch perfect 1

“I’m home!” Chloe said as she opened the door to the house back from the arena.

“In the kitchen,” Aubrey’s voice replied and the ginger dropped her keys in the little bowl at the entrance and noticed a nice smell in the house. She sniffed the air a couple of times, making her way to the kitchen. 

“It smells really good in here,” she commented. Aubrey smiled when she saw her and pointed to the counter. 

“I made your favorite. Apple crumble pie, just the way you like it. And I bought whipped cream-- lots of it.”

Chloe grinned and ran to her friend who accepted her hug with a sigh of relief. “Thanks, Bree,” she said with her face in her neck. “You didn’t have to.” 

Aubrey pulled away to take Chloe’s hands into her own. “I’m sorry for last night, Chlo. I’m just stressed about our performance soon and frankly, I’m just not a fan of…  _ her  _ so I reacted badly but it wasn’t fair to you. So I’m sorry.”

Chloe smiled, intertwining their fingers together. “Thanks. I get it. I just-- I think you should give her another chance.” An idea popped into her head and her eyes sparkled with excitement. “You should come to the party tonight! They’re gonna celebrate their win from today in the courtyard.” 

The blonde winced, “Oh I don’t know… I mean-- congratulations to them for winning but… “ she trailed off and when she saw Chloe’s hopeful blue eyes, she sighed. “Fine, okay. I’ll come by but if I don’t like it, I will leave.”

Chloe squealed and hugged her best friend tightly. “Yay! Oh it’s going to be aca-amazing!”

“Right,” Aubrey chuckled. “Alright, let’s eat some pie.” 

… 

She was excited for the party. She was really bonding with these girls, she had made progress with Beca and Aubrey had agreed to come with her. She didn’t want to overdo it so she simply put on a jacket on top of a blue shirt and did light makeup. She took one last look at herself, smiling at what she saw and decided she was ready.

“You ready, Bree?”

“Yeah, just a minute!” 

Aubrey came out wearing a pink top and Chloe took her hand, dragging her out of the house. It was 9:15 and it was less than a 10 minute walk to the courtyard so they’ll be considered on time for a party at the time they’ll arrive. 

The music was booming and there were a  _ lot  _ of people. Word must’ve gotten out that people were having a party because Chloe didn’t know half the people there. There were already empty solo cups on the ground every two feet and Chloe decided that she needed to catch up fast. 

“Come on!” she said, grabbing Aubrey’s wrist to pull her towards the bar where she was met with Stacie and Cynthia-Rose.

“If I drink too much tonight,” Stacie said before noticing the two that just got there. “Will you pull my hair back when I puke?”

Cynthia-Rose looked at Stacie up and down before nodding. “Yes. I can be trusted to do that.”

Stacie was going to answer when she spotted Chloe and she smiled. “Hey Chloe! I’m so glad you made it!”

The redhead grinned, hugging both hockey players. “Of course! Congratulations on your win today again.” 

Cynthia-Rose smirked. “Thanks, Beale. Who’s the hottie?”

Aubrey blushed before stepping into the conversation. “I’m Aubrey, I’m the captain of the Bellas.”

“Oh the Barden Bellas! These girls are smokin’ hot,” Stacie said enthusiastically and Cynthia-Rose nodded in agreement. “Hi, I’m Stacie. My hobbies are cuticle care and the E! Network.”

“And hockey,” Cynthia-Rose added with a snort and Stacie shrugged. 

“Eh.”

“I’m Cynthia-Rose,” the girl said, shaking Aubrey’s hand while she checked her out with hungry eyes. 

“Shots?” Stacie said, offering her a small glass and Chloe clapped happily. 

“Don’t mind if I do!” 

Aubrey declined politely, opting for the punch but Chloe and Stacie chugged a shot at the same time. The redhead cringed at the burn in her throat but she hadn’t had fun like this in a long time so she was deciding to let loose. 

An hour later, she was pretty tipsy, Aubrey was somewhere talking with Amy and Chloe still hadn't seen Beca. She knew the hockey player was short but it almost seemed impossible for Chloe not to have spotted her already. Maybe it had to do with the fact that every time she tried to look for her, Stacie shoved another shot in her hands. 

Even with her blurry vision, she finally tried to take a moment to focus so she could find the girl she was looking for. Her eyes widened when she finally spotted her talking to some guy on the stands. She frowned when she saw him get closer and closer to Beca and how the hockey player was obviously smiling back at him. He was wearing a Treble hoodie so Chloe easily deduced it was Jesse. She wondered if Aubrey could be right and they could be dating.

Something turned in her stomach and when she saw the dark-haired boy walking away, she immediately took her chance. She walked up to the stands quickly and breathed out a “Hi!” while taking Beca’s hands, tugging her closer. Okay maybe she was a bit more drunk than she thought. 

Beca’s face was close to hers and she had no desire for her to pull away, she liked the proximity. She could see every little detail of her face. The cut on her right eyebrow that she had made today, the cold blue eyes, everything. Beca was beautiful. 

“I am so glad that I met you.” She got even closer to her face, eyes dropping down to Beca’s lips briefly. “I think that we’re gonna be really fast friends.” 

Beca smiled, “Yeah? Well you saw me naked so,” she added with a wink that made Chloe’s heart skip a beat. 

“About that,” Chloe said, still holding Beca’s hands and trying to focus on something else other than how  _ soft _ they are. “I guess I should… apologize, right? I’m a pretty forward person so sometimes I don’t really think about the way other people feel about it.” 

“I couldn’t have guessed,” Beca joked sarcastically.

Chloe bit her lip and lowered her voice, “It’s just that when I want something, I usually don’t stop until I get it.” 

Beca seemed taken back by the statement. Chloe’s not sure if she imagined it but it almost looked like Beca’s eyes dropped down to Chloe’s lips for a second. Before she could think anything of it, a voice was heard.

“BeCAW!”

Beca pulled away from Chloe’s grip and straightened her back, looking at Jesse who was coming back with two red solo cups. He gave one to her while trying to take a sip of his own cup, spilling beer on his chin. 

“Red, this is Jesse. Jesse, meet Red.”

Chloe smiled at him because even though the thought of him dating Beca upset her for the simple reason that she was in fact attracted to her, it didn’t mean he wasn’t a good person. “I usually go by Chloe.”

He chuckled a little, “Noted. I only knew you by Red. Nice to finally meet you.” Chloe’s eyebrows shot up at his words and she turned to the hockey player. 

“You talked about me?” she said in a soft voice and Beca slapped Jesse’s shoulder. 

“Whatever,” was all she answered and Chloe bit her lower lip to keep herself from laughing. She was thrilled at this new information and was definitely going to bring it up later. 

“How’d you two meet?”

Jesse grinned, putting his arm around Beca and she tried to push it off but when he persisted, she left it there. “We met at hockey camp this summer. I sang her an epic solo in my dad’s backseat, she fell in love, the rest is history.” 

He looked at the small hockey player like he just said the funniest thing ever and Beca had an annoyed expression on her face. She shoved him away for good and took a sip of her cup without commenting anything else. Chloe couldn’t help but feel the pang of disappointment from the confirmation that they were dating. They seemed really close too, sharing looks that Chloe didn’t really understand. She wasn’t sure what she was expecting.

Jesse continued like nothing happened, “You’re a Bella, right? Bumper tells me your captain is batshit crazy.” 

Chloe frowned, not appreciating that this information was going around. “Yes I am. She’s not crazy though, she’s… driven.”

“She called me a bitch the first time I met her,” Beca said with a smirk. 

“She doesn’t like meeting new people. I know someone else like that,” Chloe teased and Beca rolled her eyes. Jesse looked at them and then snorted, taking a sip of his beer. Before she became an obvious third wheel, she cleared her throat. “Alright, I’m gonna go get another drink. This ginger needs her jiggle juice!” she said while shaking her butt and walked away. 

“Make good choices!” she heard shouted back at her and she smiled at the fact that Beca repeated what she had told her earlier today. 

She found Aubrey with Amy still entertaining a conversation about something random. She joined them but didn’t really listen to what they were saying, too busy looking at Beca and Jesse still talking on the stands. She was still delighted at the fact that she learned Beca talked about her to Jesse. She wondered what she said about her. Even though Beca seemed to be dating the Treble, Chloe was being pulled towards the hockey player and she wouldn’t stop until she knew everything about her. 

After a while, Stacie and a few other Dames joined them and the tall hockey player took Chloe’s hand and raised it in the air. 

“I hereby declare thee Chloe Beale an honorary member of the Barden Dames, division III!”

Everyone cheered as Chloe beamed. She felt the warmth in her chest from the alcohol and she felt happy about the new friends she had made. With her hand still in the air, she looked over where Beca was to find her already looking at them with a smile.

When she caught Chloe’s eyes, Beca raised her glass at her and Chloe’s smile got even bigger.

… 

  
  


When Aubrey woke up an hour after Chloe did, she found her eating the pie in front of her laptop in the kitchen. 

“Good morning,” Aubrey said and Chloe looked up. “Healthy breakfast, I see.”

“Morning!” she said with her mouth full and pointed the pie with her fork. “This pie is so good, Bree.” She couldn’t help it, she loved sugary things and when she saw the pie on the counter when she went downstairs at 8 AM earlier, she couldn’t not take a slice. Her usual bowl of cereal that she had every morning could wait. 

The blonde chuckled, moving around the kitchen to make herself a fruit bowl. Aubrey was crazy healthy. Chloe thought she lived a pretty healthy lifestyle before she met the captain in freshman year; Aubrey worked out at the gym 5 times a week and only ate sugar free things. The ginger couldn't even begin to imagine a life without sugar. Seemed like a nightmare. 

“What are you doing?” Aubrey asked, pointing at the open laptop. 

Chloe pinched her lips together and tried to move the screen to make sure her friend couldn’t see. “Oh, nothing,” she tried to say as nonchalant as she could. Aubrey narrowed her eyes and walked around the counter to the kitchen table. 

“Oh my aca-God, you stalker!” The blonde said in a laugh and Chloe flushed. Stacie and her had exchanged instagram the night before and Chloe might have gone on Stacie’s following list to find Beca’s handle and see what kind of pictures she posted. When Aubrey looked at the screen, Chloe had clicked on a picture that was of all the Dames at some kind of party. 

They all had their cups raised in the air and Beca wasn’t looking at the camera, she was looking at Stacie mid-laugh while the girl had an arm around her waist and the other in the air, her face split into a grin. They all looked really happy and Chloe’s heart skipped a beat at how beautiful Beca looked when she was so carefree. 

“I followed Stacie last night and I just-- I got curious,” she tried to defend herself but it was a lost cause. 

Aubrey clicked off the picture and scrolled through her account. Beca had only posted 9 pictures and only 3 of them were pictures of her, four if you counted the one where it was a picture taken from the back where you could see the number 47 and  _ MITCHELL _ on her green jersey and she was skating towards the goal with the puck. The rest of the pictures were either pictures taken related to hockey or pictures of her friends. 

Aubrey clicked on the selfie Beca had posted last month that Chloe had already inspected in great details earlier. It was a picture of her that looked like it was taken on a hike, she was wearing red tinted sunglasses and staring at the camera with a straight face. The caption was “I know, I just don’t give a fuck”. She looked stupidly adorable and hot at the same time. 

Aubrey didn’t seem to agree with Chloe’s thought. She scoffed. “Nice caption,” she said sarcastically which just proved to the redhead once again that the two of them butt heads just because they were too similar. 

“I think it’s a good picture,” Chloe said, totally biased. “And hey I thought you were going to make an effort.” 

“I just don’t understand why you want to be close to her so bad. She’s rude and standoffish and worst of all, she’s dating a Treble.”

Chloe frowned, Jesse’s words from last night came flowing back to her brain and she shook them off quickly. “First of all, who’s she dating doesn’t really determine who  _ she _ is as a person and second of all… I don’t know-- she’s special. I feel a connection to her. Like the universe is telling me I need to be with her.” She took a breath. “It’s like I can tell that there’s something pushing us to be close.” 

Aubrey looked at her for a moment and walked away to finalize her breakfast. “You’ve always been too much of a romantic for your own good.”   
  


Chloe knew that already. When Chloe loved, she loved hard and with everything in her.

She bit her lip and moved her cursor to the follow button but didn’t click, hesitating a little. “Screw it,” she mumbled to herself, clicking on the button and breathed out when she saw the blue turn into white. 

She waited a couple of seconds before closing the tab and moving on with her day. She had some school work to do, especially an assignment from her First Aid class on how her training had been going so far. She moved to her bedroom and put on some music to concentrate on her work.

Two hours later, she got to the notification that she had been not-so-secretly waiting for. 

_ effinmitchell47 has followed you back! _

She didn’t even stop the squeal that came out of her mouth at the notification and opened her phone. She clicked on her own profile to imagine what Beca was seeing right now and she was glad to see her past pictures were good ones. Her last picture had been posted less than two weeks ago and it was a picture of her with Aubrey. They were both laughing at something and the picture was blurry but Chloe loved it. At the top of her screen, a message appeared and she clicked on it in half a second. 

_ effinmitchell47 _

creep. 

  
  


She smiled at the fact that they were now in a  _ texting  _ stage. 

  
  


_ chlobealehuh _

social media’s public, beca. that’s kind of the whole point. 

_ effinmitchell47 _

sure. 

hangover? someone had fun last night.

_ chlobealehuh _

just celebrating your win accordingly. you should’ve let yourself have more fun ! after all, you did have one goal and two assists.

_ effinmitchell47 _

oh but I did have fun. my fun was watching you shake your butt and saying “this ginger needs her jiggle juice.

_ chlobealehuh _

so me shaking my butt was fun to you is what I’m hearing

_ effinmitchell47 _

shut up I didn’t mean it that way

_ chlobealehuh _

sure seems like you did ;)

who’s the creep now?

_ effinmitchell47 _

still you. I’ve never barged into anyone else’s shower

which is like the bare minimum but somehow you couldn’t reach it

_ chlobealehuh _

I apologized for that!

besides it’s your fault for not telling me you had such a beautiful voice!

_ effinmitchell47 _

pretty sure it doesn’t give you the right to see me naked, red.

_ chlobealehuh _

it’s not like you have anything to be ashamed about ;)

and we sounded totally aca-awesome together!

_ effinmitchell47 _

aca-awesome? someone get me out of here. 

_ chlobealehuh _

admit it, we sounded great

_ effinmitchell47 _

… 

fine. 

yes we did. 

_ chlobealehuh _

look at you go! i think we’re friends now, beca

_ effinmitchell47 _

oh are we?

_ chlobealehuh _

yep! just you wait, you’re gonna become obsessed with me soon enough. 

_ effinmitchell47 _

I guess we’ll see huh? 

  
  


They ended up texting sporadically for the rest of the day. Halfway through, Chloe had sent her her number with a winky face and Beca hadn’t wasted any time before moving their conversation over. Every single time that her phone vibrated with a text, the redhead felt her heart tug. 

Beca over text was the same as Beca in real life; adorably sarcastic and the Bella couldn’t get enough. She knew she was entering dangerous waters but she couldn’t afford to care. Not when she loved the feeling of butterflies of her stomach this much. 

Chloe was also happy that by the end of the day, she had learned another fact about Beca. Apparently, the hockey player didn’t like movies. She explained that Jesse was trying to give her a “movie-cation” and that so far, it was a failure. Chloe almost took it as a challenge. Maybe  _ she _ could make Beca watch a movie with her and see how it goes. Not that she told the hockey player that, Chloe would hold on to that playing card until the right moment. 

Besides, she wasn’t going to have free time for a while with the riff-off happening soon and then regionals. That pretty much meant Aubrey was only focusing on the Bellas and Chloe had to match her energy if she wanted her friendship with the blonde to survive. 

She just hoped she’d figured out how to juggle the barden Dames on top of all of that. 

Chloe was sitting in the living room, the TV playing some bad romantic movie that neither and Aubrey were watching when she received a text that made her laugh so hard, Aubrey almost fell out the couch in surprise. 

_ beca :) _

what the /fuck/ is a riff off


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am aware that I mention Lorde in this and her first album came out in 2013 and pitch perfect 1 is set in 2012, but you know what? i don't care. Hope you guys like this one.

Chloe fell into a nice routine. Monday was the Bellas, Tuesday was the Dames, Wednesday and Thursday were days she could spend doing school work and Friday she had another Bellas rehearsal. Then, she would wake up on Saturday for another Dames practice and Sunday was the day she could finally lay in bed from morning to night. Except she never did that because Chloe was someone that liked being on the move and seeing people and having fun. 

Tuesday, Beca didn’t get hurt. When Chloe made an offhand joke about it, Beca had looked at her with a smirk. 

_ “I just don’t want to have to tell you all my secrets, Red.” _

_ Chloe had raised an eyebrow, almost challenging her. “Please. I bet you won’t even last one more practice without getting hurt.” _

She had been right. The next Friday, Chloe had been the first one there when they heard shouting in the locker room after practice was over. 

_ “Ow! What the fuck Amy!”  _

_ “Fuck Shawshank, I’m sorry I didn’t see you there.” _

_ “Stop running around with your hands in your hockey skates, you psycho!” _

Chloe had cleaned the cut on her arm and put a band-aid on it with a smile, loving the way Beca was pouting the whole time. The fact that she had let Chloe put the band-aid on when she could’ve easily done it herself proved to the redhead that she was getting through to the hockey player. 

That time she learned that Lorde was her favorite music artist and Beca had pretended not to care when Chloe enthusiastically told her she loved Lorde too and her favorite artist was Cage the Elephant. 

Then Tuesday, Beca and Stacie had decided to get in some kind of wrestling match before they had even put on their full uniform for the practice. It had ended with Stacie picking Beca up in the air, them falling down on Emily who had stumbled backwards into Jessica who had made Ashley fall on Lilly who surprisingly stayed upright instead of collapsing on the floor like the others. Luke and Chloe had both taken a look at each of them to make sure there were no concussions, only a few bruises. 

Even though technically Chloe didn’t clean up any injury, she managed to make the number 47 tell her that her favorite color was black (Chloe didn’t even try to argue that black wasn’t a color- she was taking what she could get).

Beca had scoffed a “ _ of course _ ” when Chloe told her her favorite color was yellow. Chloe chose to take it as a good thing. 

Wednesday night had been the riff off and it had started bad, then it turned good for a second before turning horrible and they had lost to the Trebles. Chloe had watched Jesse the whole time with the corner of her eyes and after watching him act all smug with his buddies, she wasn’t sure she wanted to give him that much of a chance anymore. 

Aubrey had been in a bad mood since it happened but Chloe didn’t want to let it get to her. It was a beautiful sunny day on the Barden campus and she was listening to music, walking one from her Maps class. She passed by the lawn when she spotted a familiar face wearing headphones, a concentrated look on her face as she worked on her computer. 

Beca had set up a cute little blanket and there was a half-eaten sandwich next to her. The idea of Beca making her lunch and getting a blanket to sit on the quad was weirdly heartwarming. Before she even registered what her feet were doing, she casted a shadow on the hockey player. 

Beca looked up like she was going to snap at the person who blocked the sun from her but her face relaxed when she recognized Chloe. She moved her headphones so she could hear out of one ear. 

“Oh hey.” 

“Hi!” Chloe said, grinning. “Cute little set up you got there, Becs.” The nickname came out of her mouth without even thinking about it but she quite liked the way the words rolled out of her tongue. Beca didn’t seem to mind either because she didn’t comment on it.

“Are you mocking me, Red?”

“No, I’m waiting for an invitation to join your picnic.”

Beca laughed. “Oh so now you want an invitation? But when I’m naked you don’t wait for anyone,” she teased while moving to the right so Chloe could have space on the blanket. The redhead sat down gracefully, making sure her dress didn’t ride up and her bare knee rested against Beca’s thigh that was covered by skinny jeans. Surprisingly, Beca didn’t move away, she just continued working on her laptop. 

Chloe ignored what the hockey player said and rested on her hands, leaning back. “You don’t have class?”

“Only at 3 so I got some free time before. You?” 

“I just came back from Maps,” she remembered what her teacher told her before she left the class and rolled her eyes. “I have no idea why I’m even taking this class. My teacher said the way things are going, I’m going to fail the class but like-- why do I even need to know where Copenhagen is? Who cares!”

Beca chuckled, looking up from her screen to look at Chloe and the ginger felt a sense of pride at the fact that she made her laugh. She still remembered the girl who used to reply to her with one-word answers a little over three weeks ago and she was glad things were moving in a nice direction. 

“That’s why I’m taking as little classes as possible so I can focus on what I actually want to do.” 

“Which is?” she asked not-so subtly. Beca smirked and moved her laptop so Chloe could see what she was working on. It seemed to be on some kind of music program. 

“I wanna make music,” the hockey player stated. “You know, produce music, move to LA and work for a music label. That’s what I’d be doing right now if I could.”

Chloe got closer to Beca in excitement, not even realizing that both of her knees were now resting on Beca’s extended leg. 

“Oh my God! That’s so cool!” she said, looking at all the files that Beca had saved. Dozens and dozens of mixes had been made over the past years. “I thought your thing was hockey?”

Beca shrugged. “I like hockey and it’s definitely also one of the reasons why I don’t take a lot of classes. I’ve been playing it my whole life but… it’s always been a hobby. When my dad told me I had to go here, he made a deal with me that if I joined a club, he could maybe start thinking of the idea of letting me go to LA. So I joined hockey since it was something I knew and here I am.” 

It’s a bit crazy to think the only reason Beca joined the team was to shut her dad up and she ended up being captain right away. She had a feeling the hockey player was good at everything she did and just downplayed it-- or she truly didn’t understand how talented she really was. Luckily, Chloe was a master at compliments. 

“Here you are,” Chloe said. 

She wondered if she was crazy to think “ _ I’m so glad that your dad forced you to come here so that I could meet you. I feel like you’re gonna become a really important person in my life.” _ She couldn’t afford to care if she was. 

Instead she continued by saying “I would absolutely love it if you wanted to show me some of your mash-ups sometimes. I bet they’re aca-amazing.”

Beca looked at her and blushed a little, like she couldn’t believe Chloe would even want to hear what she was working on. For a moment, the redhead saw some kind of vulnerability in the steel blues eyes that always seemed in control but it disappeared in a second when Beca smirked. 

“Yeah, maybe. I mean, I’d have to have some really big injury to let you listen to them. Maybe break my arm or something.” 

Chloe rolled her eyes, an easy smile on her face. “I’m not sure I’m qualified to handle a broken arm.”

“I’m sure you’d find a way,” Beca said, picking up her sandwich and there was another look of tenderness shared between them before they were interrupted by Chloe getting a text. 

_ Where are you? _ Aubrey had texted her and she didn’t even register the fact that she reacted negatively to the text until Beca pointed it out with her mouth full. 

“You good, Red?”

“What? Oh yeah it’s um- it’s just Aubrey.” 

“Ah yes. I’ve heard of her, nice girl.”

Chloe chuckled a little before shaking her head, “Shut up. It’s just-- well we lost the riff off and she’s been a little on edge because of it.”

“But I thought the whole point was that it was for fun. No rules and shit.” 

Chloe shrugged, typing out a response to Aubrey telling her she’s hanging out with a friend and will be home soon. “I know but that doesn’t matter to her. The Bellas are struggling and we have regionals coming up and the odds are not in our favor. I’m trying to remain optimistic but she’s-- not built that way.”

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out, right?” Beca said and Chloe nodded even though she wasn’t so sure.

“Totes.” 

Beca looked amused but moved on quickly. “You guys just need to figure out what it means to be a team. Is it Audrey being a dictator or one goal that unites you all?” 

Chloe was slightly taken back by the wise words but then remembered the hockey player was captain for a reason. “You’re right,” she said and then caught up in her emotions, surged forward and took the girl in her arms. 

“Oh,” Beca said, flinching under her touch but after a couple of seconds, Chloe felt a tentative arm around her waist. She squeezed tightly, liking the way her face nuzzled in hair that smelled like coconut. 

“It’s Aubrey, by the way.” Chloe murmured, pushing hot breath against Beca’s neck. 

“I don’t care,” Beca said and the ginger laughed, pulling away. 

“Fair enough. She calls you Becky.” Chloe laughed when Beca pulled a face.

“She really doesn’t like me, huh?”

Chloe hummed. “I guess not. I do, though,” she added with a wink. Beca couldn’t even fight off the smile on her face.

“Lucky me.”

“Duh,” she said but then got more serious. “I think all hope was lost when she found out the toner you had for Jesse.”   
  


Beca raised one eyebrow. “A what?”

“Toner. A musical boner. It’s when you like someone.” 

The hockey player stayed silent before bursting into laughter. 

“Yeah, that’s not a thing.” 

“Ah young Beca, you have so much to learn about the fantastic world of acapella,” she teased, reaching a hand out to pat her head but the hockey player moved out the way in a laugh and pushed her shoulder lightly.

“There’s nothing I want less than to know more than I already do, weirdo.”

Chloe looked at her with a twinkle in her eyes, a smile splitting her face in half and Beca looked at her the same way. 

The fact that Beca never once confirmed whether Jesse and her really were dating never once registered in Chloe’s mind. 

Conversation died down at one point and Chloe took out a few textbooks to study next to Beca. It was nice, really nice. From time to time, she’d look up to observe Beca, liking the way the dark-haired girl looked when she was concentrating; her eyebrows slightly frowned together sometimes, her tongue poking out when she was trying to get the rhythm right. Then Beca would feel the stare on her and look to her left to smile at the redhead. 

Okay she didn’t technically smile but she did it with her eyes, Chloe could see it in the blue color. 

Soon enough it was time for Beca to get to class and they parted ways but not before Chloe gave her one last hug. Once again, the hockey player froze in her arms before relaxing and Chloe found that she liked hugging Beca standing up even more. It seemed like Beca was made to fit right into her shoulder and Chloe liked how their bodies seemed to fit together. 

When Chloe came back home to a stressed out Aubrey, she couldn’t even try to pretend she was as focused on Regional as her captain because she only had warm blue eyes and a snarky smile on her mind. 

… 

Chloe’s voice cracked again as she sang her solo and it took everything in her not to tear up at the pain. Her throat had been hurting for a while and she wasn’t sure what was happening; preferring not to think of the worst. She wasn’t sure what she’d do if she lost the ability to sing. 

The morning after she had spent a few hours on the quad with Beca, she woke up with the nastiest case of dry throat. She figured she had caught a cold from being at the arena a lot but it had been two weeks now since that picnic with the hockey player and she had no other symptoms but her throat hurting every time she sang or talked too much. 

“What is wrong with you today, Chloe?” Aubrey said, exasperated. “You’ve been distracted, messing up dance moves and now your voice? Are you not taking this seriously?”

Chloe’s jaw clenched. “What? Of course I am. I must’ve just warmed up my voice wrong at the start of rehearsal. I’ll be better next time, I promise.” 

Aubrey seemed to believe her and tried to make the girls start from the top once again. As soon as she blew in the pitch pipe, one of the Freshman took a step in the wrong direction and crashed into her Bella on the left. Aubrey turned around with a groan and didn’t seem to care that all the Bellas looked exhausted. 

“Alright, everyone take five!” she said and lowered her voice as if they couldn’t hear her anymore to say, “ _ before I blow my goddamn brain out.” _

Chloe rushed to her bag, not wanting to use her voice to talk to Aubrey and texted Beca. 

_ red _

S.O.S

_ beca :) _

captain bitch is drilling you guys again?

_ red _

unfortunately

distract me

_ beca :)  _

i’m afraid i don’t have a lot of time since i’m at the arena with jesse waiting for him to tie his skates but i will do what i can with the time i have

  
  


Chloe pouted a little at the image of the two hanging out but then she remembered what Beca looked like when she played hockey, wearing her green jersey and her hair down and Chloe’s heart started racing instantly. 

_ red _

tell me anything

_ beca :)  _

so you know how i told you my roommate hates me? i’m pretty sure she’s planning my death

when i came back from class today, she immediately closed her laptop but i know what i saw, there was definitely a page on how to anesthetize someone 

_ red _

isn’t she a med student lol

_ beca :)  _

so? 

it’s the perfect cover 

don’t fall into her games red

  
  


Chloe laughed quietly to herself. That conversation had been exactly what she needed and when Aubrey made them come back, she was in a much better mood. 

“From the top, ladies.” 

She started singing The Sign by Ace of Base, the same song she had sang since she became a Bella freshman year and managed to go through the whole song without messing up. Aubrey was at the front, watching them all intently and making them go through the routine over and over again. When they got it all right, she finally let them go. It was a Friday night and all the girls sighed in relief when Aubrey said the magic words. 

Chloe was scared. She wasn’t sure who to tell about this and her google researches she made at home told her the probability of her having nodes were pretty high. She knew she couldn’t tell Aubrey, at least not until she was 100% sure because she was pretty sure it would give the blonde a heart attack. After all, Regionals were coming up and Chloe had a solo. She had to be ready. 

With shaking hands, she scheduled a doctor’s appointment for Saturday next week after the Dames’ practice. She hoped this whole thing had been blown out of proportions by her anxiety and that everything would be okay. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not gonna lie, I like this chapter a lot so I hope you guys do too.

Chloe was sitting on the home bench, her shoulders slumped and her eyes fixed on her lap. Her appointment was in a couple of hours and she was nervous. Her symptoms had started to get even worse. Sometimes she’d wake up and she wouldn’t even be able to talk without it being painful which was basically the worst thing in the world for someone like Chloe who loved to talk. She had a shooting pain from ear to ear and she had more and more trouble carrying through rehearsals pretending like nothing was happening. 

The sounds of the hockey sticks on the ice made her come back to reality and she looked up to see Cynthia-Rose passing the puck to Beca. Instantly, Stacie skated towards the number 47 and pushed her against the boards violently. The crash echoed in the arena and Chloe was almost worried Beca was going to fall over but she kept her balance. 

“The fuck, Stace?” 

Stacie seemed to grin through her helmet, “Sorry Mitchell, just making sure you get your daily trip to nurse Beale.” 

Luke turned to her with a laugh and Chloe blushed a little. The inside joke that the team all shared about Beca getting hurt all the time had evolved and now involved Chloe. It was a  _ thing _ now that the hockey player would get hurt and Chloe would be the one making sure she was fine. Luke wouldn’t even ask her to take a look at the injury anymore, Chloe would just do it on her own. 

Everytime Beca left the ice to go with the redhead, all the players would make kissy noises and whoop loudly. Usually, Beca would take off her glove specifically to flip them off with a frown on her face.

Chloe would laugh it up and never bring it up in front of Beca but she couldn’t stop herself from feeling the butterflies in her stomach at the jokes. It had been about two months now that she met the hockey player and Chloe was familiar enough with the aspect of crushing on someone to know that’s what it was. She definitely had a crush on Beca. She couldn’t help it. The way the hockey player managed to make a sport that Chloe didn’t particularly care about so sexy and the way her sarcastic smile would sometimes soften into a genuine one made the ginger’s heart race. 

She didn’t love Beca injuring herself but she definitely loved learning new things about her. They still had their deal obviously and everytime she got hurt, she would tell Chloe a fact about herself but they had grown closer to the point where Beca would reveal something all on her own when they were texting. They were growing closer, actually being friends and Chloe felt as though she was really breaking through to Beca and it felt great. 

She couldn’t help but noticed Beca flinched less and less when she hugged her now and Beca stopped rushing out the locker room after practice so they would have time to talk a little. She felt a strange sense of pride every time she saw Stacie or Fat Amy try to touch Beca to tease her and the latter would slap their hands away. The only one that Chloe had seen Beca touch willingly had been Emily and it had actually been a sweet scene that had melted Chloe’s heart.

It was at their game last week where Beca managed not to get hurt but they did unfortunately lose the game. It was tied 1-1 for the majority of the game and in the third period, Emily had suddenly been left alone to defend their home base and she miscalculated her move and had let the player go through and score. 

Amy had yelled at her for 5 minutes straight and at the end when everyone had left, Chloe had caught Beca and Emily in the parking lot talking. Emily looked like she was crying and Beca rubbed her arms in a comforting way before standing on her tiptoes to hug the girl. The redhead had observed the scene with a smile and had let the captain do her job without her disturbing them. 

Beca pretended she was a badass but she really was a softie at heart. Some people just didn’t know how to read her, but Chloe felt as though she was getting the hang of it. 

“Idiot,” Beca muttered to Stacie before skating away. She passed in front of the bench where Chloe was sitting and seemed to notice something was off about the redhead because she took a second look at her, like she was hesitating to ask her if something was wrong before continuing her route. 

She was usually so cheerful during her time with the Dames, either talking Luke’s ear off or cheering the girls even though they were just practicing but this time she was quiet. She didn’t want to use her voice too much, especially not before her appointment with her doctor. 

When Jessica made a wrong move and twisted her ankle, Chloe didn’t even register what happened until Luke nudged her lightly. 

“What?” She looked at the ice and saw the blonde girl sitting down and holding her ankle with everyone surrounding her. “Oh,” she said, getting up and Luke shook his head.

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll take care of it.” 

Ashley and Lilly helped guide Jessica to Luke and then she hopped on one skate to go to the locker room. Gail watched her go with a sigh.

“Alright, everyone take 5.”

Everyone started messing around on the ice and Chloe’s heart picked up when she saw Beca skate towards her and ice flew in the air when she braked in front of the board. Chloe tried to force a smile because she really was happy that she was friends with Beca enough for the latter to come towards her on her break but she was in so much pain. 

“I bet you’re sad that wasn’t me,” Beca teased and Chloe raised an eyebrow in question. “You can’t make me tell you something about myself when I’m not the one that gets hurt.”

Chloe breathed out a laugh, “I don’t think you understand that I’d much rather you tell me stuff about yourself willingly rather than forcing it out of you when you get hurt.” 

Instead of laughing like Chloe expected her to, Beca frowned. 

“What’s up with your voice?”

“Oh. Nothing.”

Beca didn’t accept that answer. 

“What’s up with you today, dude? You’ve been acting all sad and it’s weird.”

Chloe scoffed. “Thanks.”

“I just mean that usually you’re all happy and smiley and..” Beca trailed off and Chloe waited for the girl to continue talking. Beca sighed before looking down to finish the rest of her sentence, kicking her blade in the ice. “... and when you’re happy it makes the practices more fun cause you’re cheering us on and it’s cool or whatever.”

It could have been easy to not hear what Beca said because of all the noises in the arena from the girls joking around behind her and the way the hockey player had mumbled it but Chloe definitely heard it. She was pretty sure her heart was going to come out of her chest by how happy she felt at the words. Beca had just admitted that she liked it more when Chloe was here and the ginger was on top of the moon. 

“Aw Becs!” Chloe said, throwing her arms around the player. It was different hugging Beca with the uniform on because she had all the protective gear that made her seem bigger when she was actually small but it was still Beca and she loved hugging Beca. Also the hockey player looked  _ really _ good in her uniform. The fact that she was the same height as Chloe in her skates was adorable. “That’s so cute. You like me so much.”

“Shut up,” Beca said, putting her gloves on Chloe’s hips to gently pull away. Her hands lingered for a second too long before putting them back up on the board separating them. “I’m not cute.” Chloe was about to reply but Beca talked again before she could. “But seriously, what’s up?” 

Chloe fidgeted on her seat, “I have a doctor’s appointment later and it’s stressing me out.” Beca’s face turned completely serious. 

“Shit. Are you okay?”

Chloe shrugged. 

“My throat’s been hurting. I’ll be alright.” She wasn’t sure who she was trying to convince. 

“Since when?”

“About three weeks now.”

Beca’s eyes widened. “Woah. That sounds bad.”

Chloe winced at the comment. She had always been an optimistic person but she had been looking up the surgeries that you had to have when you had nodes and the risks of damaging her voice were too high for her comfort. Beca seemed to notice she said the wrong thing.

“Fuck I mean-- I just-- No, it’ll be okay. I’m sure.” They both stayed quiet for a moment. Beca seemed lost in thought before she opened her mouth. “Hey, you know--”

“Okay, five minutes are up!” Gail interrupted her, her voice echoing in the ice rink. Beca cleared her throat awkwardly and lowered her voice like she only wanted Chloe to hear what she was going to say. 

“Um, you know, if you want, I could-- I mean, I don’t have anything to do after practice so--”

“Mitchell! On the centerline, now!”

“Fucking hell,” Beca muttered and pushed herself off the boards with her arms, skating backwards to maintain eye contact with Chloe. She pointed her hockey stick at her, “Wait for me after practice, Red.”

“Ooooh,” Stacie cooed and Beca broke eye contact to nudge her with her shoulder. 

Chloe was left with the smile on her face at the words that Beca left with her. As if she wanted to do anything else but stay after practice to talk to Beca. 

The redhead watched Beca for the remainder of the practice. She found that observing the number 47 as she played hockey was way better than worrying about her doctor’s appointment. She really was an excellent player and just like her voice, she seemed to have an extraordinary control over everything she did. 

Every move seemed calculated; the last minute passed she’d do, the speed she’d skate at, the way she’d fool Amy into thinking she was going to shoot in one direction and then hit the puck in another. Beca was captivating in everything she did and Chloe was hooked. 

After practice, Beca told her to wait in the lobby while she took a shower so that’s what she did. She paced in the lobby, saying bye to a couple of the girls that were done before Beca when the girl finally appeared from the hallway. Her hair was wet and put into a messy bun, she was wearing sweatpants and a  _ Blondie _ T-shirt with a flannel on top. Beca was hiding a lot of strength under that petite figure because that hockey bag over her shoulder looked like it carried more than half her weight but she didn’t even seem to be bothered by it. Chloe stopped pacing at the same time that her heart started beating significantly faster. 

“Hey, sorry I made you wait. Stacie… Actually, it’s better if you don’t know,” Beca said, shaking her head like she was trying to shake an image out of her brain. “Are you going to be late because of me?” 

Chloe looked at the time and shook her head no. She still had enough time to make it in time to the doctor’s office and besides, these things were always behind on time. 

“Okay good,” Beca said and nodded at the door with her chin, signaling they can walk out the arena. The hockey player held the door for her and Chloe smiled gracefully at her as a thank you. She jogged a little to catch up with the redhead and cleared her throat. “So I was thinking um well I guess if you wanted to, I could-- uh--”

“Beca,” Chloe interrupted with a smile on the corner of her mouth. “Just say it.”

Beca’s face flushed. “I could go with you to the appointment. You’re clearly stressed over this and I figured… moral support is always good, right?” 

Chloe smiled, the biggest smile she had had in about three weeks and wrapped her arms around Beca’s neck. The girl made a little sound but hugged back, her small arms wrapping around Chloe’s waist. The redhead was touched by how much Beca cared and she whispered a quiet “ _ Thank you _ ” in her neck. She knew the girl was soft on the inside, you just had to pull it out of her. 

Beca shivered a little and tightened her grip slightly before finally pulling away. She cleared her throat again and looked everywhere but Chloe’s eyes. “It’s nothing, dude. Come on, I’ll follow you so you can drop your car off and then I’ll drive you there.” 

Chloe tapped her finger along with the song on her steering wheel as she drove back to the Bellas’ house. The appointment still scared the shit out of her but knowing that Beca would be there to support her helped her relax a lot. It was also weird to consider accompanying someone to a doctor’s appointment “hanging out” but Chloe couldn’t help but notice it would be the first time they hung out outside of hockey and not just because they crossed paths on the quad. Beca had  _ offered _ to come with her.

She parked her car next to Aubrey’s and quickly made her way into Beca’s passenger seat. Beca lowered the volume of the music and eyed the house. 

“Dude, you live there?”

Chloe chuckled, “Yeah. It’s the house for the Bellas. It’s only for Aubrey and I right now, though, cause all our recruits are freshmen and they’re not allowed to live out of the dorms.” She took her phone out, writing out the address on Maps and put it up in a way that Beca could see the directions. 

Beca nodded and pulled out of the driveway, “That’s kinda dope, actually.” 

“Acapella is dope.”

Beca snickered and glanced her right. “Sure, Red.” 

Chloe smiled, looking out the window. It was silent but weirdly, Chloe didn’t mind it. For once, she didn’t care that she was with someone and that they weren’t talking and the music was only at a low volume because the silence was comfortable. It was like they were both existing in the same moment together and that was enough for them, they didn’t need more. Chloe didn’t feel the need to fill something to keep it from being empty. It was already full on it’s own, without words. 

When a particular song came on, Beca put the volume higher and for the rest of the ride, the hockey player hummed the tunes. Chloe was growing more nervous by the minute so she couldn’t sing along but she had a feeling Beca was doing it to help her nerves. The best thing was, it worked. She would look to her left and watch as Beca pretended she couldn’t tell that Chloe was looking at her and she’d hum or sing the song on the radio while butterflies swarmed the ginger’s stomach.

Finally, she pulled into the parking lot and Chloe breathed out loudly. Beca didn’t say anything, just let her take a moment to calm down without judging her. Chloe let down her hair only to put it in a bun again and after she repeated the move for a second time, Beca put a hand on her wrist to stop her from doing it a third time. 

“Hey. I’m pretty sure the doctor’s not going to care about the way you style your hair. Besides you look beautiful either way. C’mon, you’ve sang in front of hundreds of people on multiple occasions. This is just one tiny little doctor’s appointment.”

Chloe nodded along and registered the compliment too late because Beca had already stepped out the door when she realized she had just called her beautiful. Beca thought she was beautiful. She smiled shyly to herself and stepped out of the passenger seat. She walked to the other side of the car and to her surprise, she felt a hand slip into her own. 

Beca didn’t intertwine their fingers, they just held hands but it still made Chloe’s mouth go dry as she tried to fight off a smile. Beca was already looking nervous at the action so she didn’t want to freak her out by reacting too strongly. Chloe squeezed her hand as a thank you because that was exactly what she needed and she was thankful that Beca understood it. 

Physical reassurance was a big thing for Chloe. A hug could make her feel better faster than anything else in the world and to see Beca trying to comfort her that way even though she wasn’t a big fan of physical touch almost brought tears to her eyes. 

Beca squeezed back and nothing else had to be said. 

They waited for about 15 minutes in silence before Chloe’s name was called. She stood up and so did Beca, their hands finally parting from one another. Chloe instantly missed the warmth. She looked around and suddenly felt guilty about leaving the hockey player with nothing to do in the waiting room but like she could read her thoughts, Beca shook her head.

“Go. I don’t mind waiting.” She took a random magazine from the coffee table and held it up. “I’ve been dying to know what’s Jennifer Aniston’s nighttime routine for ages, anyways.” 

The appointment consisted of her talking or singing lightly to Dr. Turner. He asked her to speak softer or louder and change pitch for the better half of the time. Then, with the help of some other people, they put a long tube in her throat (which was probably the most uncomfortable feeling Chloe had ever felt in her entire life) to see her the way her vocal folds moved. 

Dr. Turner stayed at his computer for 5 whole minutes without saying anything to Chloe as she waited not-so-patiently, her legs swinging in the air. Finally he turned his chair around. 

“Well Miss Beale, I’m afraid you have vocal nodules.”

Her heart dropped in her chest. Singing was her everything, she couldn’t believe this was happening. 

“Is it bad?”

He nodded, “Unfortunately, yes. Because you’ve been stringing your vocal chords so much, we’re not gonna have any other choice than surgery.” 

She ducked her head down. This was awful news and she was already scared of having to tell it to Aubrey.

“What are the chances that it messes up my singing voice?”

“They’re pretty low but that is if you follow my recommendations and stop singing immediately. The recovery for the surgery lasts about a month, after there’s some voice therapy you can do it if you’re not completely satisfied with the results. After that, everything should be back to normal.”

A month. Regionals were in two weeks. Then the semi-finals. Then the ICCA finals. She didn’t have a month. She had to prepare to make sure she won her last ever competitions as a Barden Bella. She was already terrified at the thought of graduating this year, there was no way she was doing anything to jeopardize the chance of winning the finals. 

She nodded and he escorted her back to the lobby. As soon as she walked through the glass doors, Beca stood up, throwing the magazine back on the coffee table. Chloe eyed it with an amused smile. 

“I got bored,” Beca said lamely and she laughed. 

It was only when they sat down and closed the doors of the car that Beca spoke up again. 

“So, how did it go?” 

Chloe immediately burst into tears. 

“Oh. Oh okay, this is happening. Okay. Come here.” 

The angle was weird and she probably should have waited until she was in her bed to do this but it had all piled up on her all of a sudden. Beca reached over the console and wrapped her right arm around Chloe’s neck and pulled her closer. The redhead hid her face in Beca’s shoulder and her entire body shook as she cried all the anxiety she had been feeling over the past three weeks out. She felt a soft hand in her hair and Beca was humming a song she didn’t know but the vibrations of her humming actually helped Chloe calm down. 

Little by little, her sobs turned into gentle tears and finally she was able to breathe normally again. She didn’t pull away from Beca, their upper bodies holding each other as much as possible with the console between them and Beca never stopped humming. When the hockey player felt that she had calmed down enough, she spoke up in a comforting voice. 

“Hey. You’re gonna be okay, Chlo. I’m here.” 

Chloe instantly straightened up and looked at Beca. The hockey player looked like a deer in headlights. 

“What?”

Chloe wiped the tears off her face, “you called me Chlo.” 

Beca smiled with the corner of her mouth. “It is your name, right?”   
  


“I wasn’t even sure you knew what my real name was.” 

Beca rolled her eyes with a laugh and it made Chloe chuckle a little too.

“I’ll go back to Red if you think it’s weird.”

“No I-- I like it,” Chloe said softly and Beca ducked her head down but the redhead could still see the blush on her cheeks. After a moment, she looked at Chloe again. 

“You wanna tell me what happened?”

Chloe took a deep breath. “I have nodes.” Fuck. Saying it out loud made it even more real and that scared her to death.

“What is that?” 

“Vocal nodules. The rubbing together of your vocal cords at above-average rates without proper lubrication. They sit on your windpipe and crush your dreams.”

Beca frowned. “Isn’t that painful? Why would you keep performing?”

“Because I love to sing.” Chloe said and looked at her hands. “Without it, I’m not special.”

“Chlo--”

“The key is early diagnosis. The doctor said I’ll be fine. I just have to pull back a little but I can still make it to Regionals.”

Beca’s eyebrows were knit together. “Are you sure? That doesn’t sound like--”

“Let’s go home,” Chloe cut her off and she instantly felt guilty for it when Beca’s mouth snapped shut and looked away awkwardly. She shook her head, placing a hand on Beca’s thigh. “I’m sorry. I’m just-- I’m really tired. You have no idea how much I appreciate you coming here with me and I--” Her voice cracked when she felt the tears spring in her eyes again. She couldn’t even describe how touched she was that Beca had offered to come with her for this and it made her pretty emotional. 

Beca put her hand on top of Chloe’s quickly. “Hey, hey, it’s okay. Don’t start crying on me again, Red. I’ll take you home,” she teased. Chloe took a breath, smiling to dry out the tears. 

“Okay.” 

Beca drove her home and even got out of the car to hug her goodbye without Chloe even asking her to. They probably looked really weird, just standing in the driveway, hugging for 5 minutes but Beca seemed to understand she needed it. 

Chloe suddenly realized that while she was getting to know Beca and trying to find out how she acted and who she was, Beca was getting to know her the same way too. Beca was observing her the same way Chloe was, finding out how to read her as a person. 

And she was doing a pretty good job so far. 

She ignored Aubrey’s look that indicated she had clearly watched their hug on the driveway and went straight to her bedroom. She texted a thank you text to Beca followed by a string of emojis and fell asleep, remembering the feeling of Beca’s hand in hers. 

When she woke up a couple of hours later, she had the pleasure to read the hockey player’s response to her text right away. 

_ beca :) _

anything for you, chlo


	7. Chapter 7

It was game day and even though it felt like someone was sticking knives in her throat every time she sang, she felt happy. She was excited about the game and being with Beca who had been a great friend for the past week. 

She had been there to prep Chloe up for the conversation with Aubrey which had been super emotional. Aubrey reacted better than she anticipated, though and made sure her friend was okay before talking about how it impacted the Bellas. Beca had even texted her a few old tricks she read on the internet that could help soothe her throat. 

Chloe couldn’t even believe the hockey player considered herself a badass when she was out there texting her to heat up milk with honey in it so Chloe could feel better. She was adorable really and Chloe’s crush was growing bigger by the minute.

She didn't mind it. 

Chloe believed there was no better feeling than when you started liking someone. For her, the sweaty palms you got when you saw them, the butterflies in your stomach, the heart that skipped a beat when they smiled, that was what being alive was all about. It was a drug for Chloe and the redhead was happily becoming addicted to that little 5’2 rocket on skates. 

The energy in the arena was electric and it only fueled Chloe’s good mood more. She practically skipped to the locker room where the Dames were staying and she observed them for a while to enjoy it. The players were also excited and it showed in the way they were happily chatting and giggling. Like usual, the only one that wasn’t talking with anyone was Beca who was in the corner, already dressed and listening to music. Chloe wondered if she was listening to her mixes. 

Just before the game, Chloe managed to snatch Beca in time to hug her against her will.

“Good luck, Becs. Be careful.”

Beca’s body shook as she laughed a little. “I will. Thanks, Red.”

They pulled away and without thinking, Chloe kissed her cheek lightly, lingering a second too long for it to be completely platonic before winking at her. Beca’s pale cheeks turned completely red and she tried to mutter something out but Stacie who had been waiting to get out of the locker room pushed her in the back with her stick. 

“Either get a room with Beale or get moving, Mitchell. I’m here to play some hockey and not make out with some hot ginger.” 

Beca’s face somehow turned even redder and she waved awkwardly at Chloe who chuckled to herself. Stacie winked at her while passing her and Chloe felt oddly proud of herself. It had felt pretty great to kiss her cheek and to see Beca react so shyly. 

She took her place next to Luke on the bench behind the players and smiled at him.

“Someone’s in a good mood,” he said. 

“It’s game day!” Chloe said with excitement. “I have a feeling they’re going to win.”

“If you say so,” Luke said with a smile and looked at the players on the ice. Beca was making slow rounds around the rink so as to not exhaust herself too soon. “You know I gotta say I’m a big surprise at how fast Beca warmed up to you.”

Chloe beamed. “She’s a great person.”

“I think the fact that you firmly believe that somehow seemed to make her become an even better captain. You’ve been a great influence on all of them, Chloe. I’ll make sure your teacher knows how hard you’ve been working here.”

“Thanks, Luke,” she said, touched. Sometimes, she almost forgot this was all for a school project and not just for fun because this didn’t even feel like work to her. At this point, she was here for the people she met and the friendships she built. 

Like Chloe predicted, the game was going super well. Beca had made a goal in the first period with Ashley as an assist and then in the second period, Stacie made a goal with Emily as an assist. It was 2-0 during the third period and every Dames supporters were feeling the win already. The energy in the arena was magnetic and Chloe was damaging her vocal chords more than ever cheering Beca on. 

Everything was going well. Beca had control of the puck, she was skating towards the goal at a fast speed and the crowd was already preparing themselves to stand up to applaud the goal when a player of the opposite team suddenly came out of nowhere. Chloe didn’t even register what happened until she saw Beca on the ground. 

The player was about twice Beca’s size and had skated towards her fast and hadn’t stopped in time and before she could do something about it, she collided into the number 47 with her full body weight. Her hockey stick skidded off in one direction and Beca in the other, her body sliding on the ice without her moving. For a second, everything stopped in Chloe. Her mind shut off the noise that the crowd was making and she could only hear her heartbeat in her ears. Then, Beca’s head moved to look up and Chloe started breathing again. 

“That’s a penalty if I’ve ever seen one,” Luke muttered to himself while Gail along with Dames fans were screaming at the players. The referee made the girl go to the penalty box while Cynthia-Rose helped Beca stand up. That was good. If Beca was able to stand up, that means she wasn’t hurt too badly. The number 47 was hanging on to Cynthia-Rose and her head was ducked as she skated with difficulty towards their bench.

“Delivery for you, Nurse Beale,” CR said and Beca almost tripped on the step to get off the ice. Chloe caught her just in time and put her arm around Beca’s cold body. Then, Ashley replaced Beca on the ice and the game could start again. As if nothing had happened. 

“Fucking stupid motherfucker who doesn’t know how to play like a decent human being,” Beca ranted as they walked to the locker room. Chloe tuned her off and instead focused on the way Beca limped with her right foot. She held onto Chloe like her life depending on it which told the redhead she probably hurt more than she let on.

She sat her down on the bench and kneeled in front of her to untie her right skate. Beca leaned her head on the wall with a sigh after taking off her helmet. Her face was red and sweaty, showing just how hard the girl was working for this game and Chloe felt bad that she had had to leave when they were so close to the finish line. 

When she took off the skate, Beca winced in pain. 

“Where does it hurt?” Chloe asked in a soft voice. 

The captain didn’t answer. 

“Becs, where does it hurt?” 

“I think my ankle moved weirdly when that psycho ran into me.” She straightened up and looked down at Chloe. The steel blue eyes seemed cold and it worried Chloe. “I can go back. I can finish the game.”

“I don’t really believe that.”

“Dude. We’re about to win. I’m going back out there,” she said in a determined voice. Chloe sighed and moved to sit on the bench next to Beca.

“Alright.”

“What?” Beca said, turning to her. She was clearly not expecting the ginger to agree to that.

“I’m saying alright. If you can stand up right now, put your skate back on and go back on the ice, I will let you.”

Beca scoffed, as if Chloe had just asked her to do the easiest thing in the world. As soon as she stood up and put weight on her foot, she whimpered. Chloe crossed her arms and put on an arrogant smile. 

“Everything okay, honey?” she said in a fake voice.

Beca turned her head to shoot daggers with her eyes. Chloe just smiled at her and the hockey player sat back down. She put her elbows on her thighs and rubbed her face with her hands. 

“There was only 4 minutes left in the period, Beca.”

“Still. I was about to score.”

“I know,” Chloe said empathically. “Can I take a look at that ankle now?” 

Beca scowled but Chloe took that as a yes. She highly doubted she broke anything so she reached into her first aid kit to grab some bandages to at least steady it. 

“So, what do you have for me today?” The redhead said in a sweet voice, referring to their little deal. She took Beca's sock off carefully. “Tell me something about yourself, captain.”

Beca had her fist against her chin and she looked like a 5 year old pouting which made Chloe smile. “I want to go back on the ice.”

Chloe chuckled. “Well I already know that.” 

The buzzer rang, signaling the end of the game and Beca sighed heavily. 

“I’m gonna kill her. I’m gonna kill that player.” While the angry look in her eyes was indeed hot, Chloe couldn’t really afford to let that happen. 

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea. I’d rather you don’t go to prison, I’d miss you too much,” she said with a wink and Beca’s face softened a little to turn into a shy smile. 

“You’d creep your way into someone else's life easily.”

“I’m kinda attached to you already, I'm not looking for anyone else.” She meant that on more levels than Beca knew. She finished putting the bandage on and was satisfied at the result. She was getting really good at this first aid thing. 

Beca stayed quiet so Chloe looked up to meet her eyes. Steel blue eyes met ocean blue eyes and the world stopped for a second. Chloe was still kneeling in front of Beca, her bandage all wrapped around her ankle but neither of them dared to move. Chloe’s eyes dropped to her lips and for once in her life, she let herself imagine what it would be like to kiss her. To have those pink lips moving against hers and her hands on Beca’s body. 

Beca was looking at her with a look Chloe didn’t recognize and for a second, she thought that maybe if she were to close the distance between their lips, Beca would kiss back. 

The moment was interrupted by cheers coming from the hallway and a second later, a dozen Dames filled the room. Chloe stood up and Beca started moving around, like she was busy doing something and Chloe wasn’t sure why it felt like something important had just been interrupted. Stacie was the first one in and walked towards Beca, throwing an arm around Chloe’s shoulders.

“How is she, Doc?”

Chloe chuckled. “She’s gonna survive, don’t worry. Her ego was bruised more than anything else.”

“Thanks, Chlo.” Beca deadpanned and Chloe responded with a flashing smile. 

“How are you going to get home?” Cynthia-Rose said, settling down next to Beca to start taking off her uniform. “You can’t drive with that ankle.”

Chloe didn’t even think before responding. “I’ll drive her.”

Beca looked up but didn’t say anything, just nodded. Chloe assumed that meant she was on board with the plan. 

“What about your car?” Emily said, joining the conversation. 

“I can drive it to your dorm, cap. CR drove me here, so.”

Chloe beamed at the way things were working out. “Perfect.” She looked over at the brunette on the bench who was trying hard to fight off a smile. She could read her like a book now. “You need help taking a shower?”

Beca threw her glove in her stomach, making her laugh even harder as everyone looked weirdly at them. 

20 minutes later, Chloe was helping Beca walk to her car with her arm around her small waist and her face close enough to smell the fresh coconut shampoo she had used to wash her hair after the game. Her other shoulder was carrying the heavy hockey bag and a part of her brain wondered how Beca seemed to carry that with so much ease because it felt as though she was going to dislocate her shoulder any second now. 

Chloe helped her sit down and walked to the other side of the car and she found herself not wanting to drive to the dorms. She wanted to hang out with Beca some more. After all, Aubrey used every free time they had around the house to talk about the Regionals that were happening in a week and she didn’t want to be dealing with it right now.

“Congratulations, by the way.” Chloe said and Beca looked at her curiously. “You won the game. And your goal was pretty awesome.”

“Oh. Thanks,” Beca said with a shy smile, looking away. Chloe put her hand on her forearm, making her look at her. 

“You’re really talented, Becs.”

Beca chewed on the inside of her cheek. “Thank you, Chloe,” she said humbly. 

The redhead grinned at her and put the car in drive. She chose to take the direction of the Bellas’ house right away, not even choosing to warn the hockey player about the fact that they were hanging out. She was forcing them too. 

Beca seemed to be exhausted from the game because she closed her eyes, listening to the soft music playing from the radio without really caring where they were going. It’s only when Chloe pulled into her driveway that Beca noticed and straightened in her seat.

“Wait,” she said and Chloe chuckled, letting her tired mind catch up. “What are we doing here?”

“We’re hanging out!”

“Red--” Beca’s voice was cut off with Chloe’s door slamming shut. She walked over to the passenger seat and opened the door, leaning on it. 

“Hey,” she said, cheekily. 

“You know, you really should learn to ask for things more.” 

“Where’s the fun in that?” Chloe grinned, reaching out a hand for Beca to take. For someone that was pretending to be offended at the ginger’s action, she sure took her hand fast. Her cold hand slipped into Chloe’s warm one easily and the latter tugged on it, making the brunette stand up. Chloe was closer than anticipated and their faces ended up inches away from each other, making her mouth go dry instantly. 

Beca visibly swallowed but didn’t move like Chloe expected her to. Instead, she looked down at Chloe’s lips, surprising the redhead. She thought for a second about closing the distance between them but then the thought of Jesse popped into her brain and she took a step back with a smile, like nothing happened. Beca snapped out of it and put her arm around Chloe’s shoulder so they could start walking. 

They walked to the house in silence, Chloe’s mind racing. They had grown a lot closer over the past months and Chloe’s crush did nothing but get bigger but this was the first time that she saw a real opportunity where they could have kissed and she wasn’t sure she knew how to handle it. 

Usually, Chloe was a very forward person. When she liked someone, she’d go up to them and kiss them and the people would always kiss back. But with Beca, it was different. Yeah, she was forward with Beca too, flirting and touching her a lot but she also couldn’t just come up to her and kiss her. 

Mainly because of Jesse. 

Maybe Aubrey was onto something with her hatred for the Trebles. 

But he was also not the full reason. It was also because Beca didn’t seem like the kind of girl to just kiss someone out of the blue and she seemed like the kind of girl who needed to build a real foundation with someone before doing something like that. Chloe respected her too much to do something that would make the hockey player uncomfortable. 

“I’m home!” Chloe yelled into Beca’s ear when they entered the house and the smaller girl winced. “Sorry,” she giggled and then waited for an answer. Since no one spoke up, she assumed Aubrey wasn’t there. 

Beca walked into the entrance, limping a little and looked around. “Dude, this house is fucking dope.” 

Chloe walked up behind her. “I would give you a tour but you should really rest your ankle. Speaking of… my room is upstairs, so you’re gonna have to walk up some stairs.”

Beca looked to the stairway and cringed, already dreading it. 

“Or I can give you a piggyback ride, “ Chloe joked but it was almost like Beca didn’t really understand she was teasing because she hesitated for a second. “Oh my God! You want me to give you a piggyback ride!” She was having way too much seeing the girl’s face turn crimson. 

“No I don’t! I just-- well my ankle is killing me and I’m really fucking tired cause I just played a hockey game. You don’t know how exhaustive it is, okay?”

Chloe was giggling at Beca’s face and she poked her cheeks, “You so want me to give you a piggyback ride.”

“Shut up,” Beca said, turning her face away from her. 

Chloe took a step even closer. “C’mon Becs. Say it. Say you want me to give you a piggyback ride. Say:  _ My sweet beautiful Chloe, please give me a piggyback ride since I am oh so tired from my hockey game _ .” 

Beca couldn’t help but let out a chuckle, even though she was pretending to be mad at the senior right now. “Right, that’s the way I talk.”

“Are you saying you wouldn’t call me beautiful?” Chloe teased, poking a finger in her stomach and Beca took her hand and held on to her finger, swinging it in the air a couple of times. 

“Of course I would,” the hockey player mumbled. Chloe smiled, pleased to know that information and then turned around, bending down so Beca could jump on her. “You promise you’re never going to tell anyone about this, right?”

“Totes. Hurry up, I can hear my bed calling me.”

Beca jumped, wrapping her legs around Chloe’s waist and the redhead straightened up. Beca really wasn’t heavy plus she was also pretty in shape so it was no struggle for her. “You’re strong,” Beca stated. 

“You’re just tiny,” she replied and felt a heel dig into her and she giggled. She took the direction of the stairs, trying to ignore Beca’s hot breath over her shoulder and how it made her legs kind of feel like jelly. They were both quiet as Chloe walked to her room and when she stopped in front of her bed, there was a beat before Beca realized she could be put down. 

She jumped down and observed the room in silence. Chloe looked at her the whole time, liking the fact that Beca was in her room right now and she didn’t care how much she sounded like a teenager who was excited to have her crush in her bedroom right now. Her room had two beds in it because usually, the Bellas shared rooms and only the captain had the bed with the single bed which meant Aubrey had taken it. 

“Come on, your ankle needs to rest properly.” Chloe said and propped some pillows so they could sit up on her bed. Beca laid down incredibly still, like she was afraid to move too much and the ginger snorted at her. Beca could be adorably awkward sometimes, like these were her first human interactions. 

“Shut up.”

“Why are you so still?” Chloe chuckled, getting her laptop and sitting down next to her. “Are you scared of me, Beca?” she said in a husky voice. 

Beca pinched her lips together. “You wish.” 

She continued with her low voice. “That's where you’re wrong. I certainly wouldn’t want you to be scared of me. I promise I don’t bite. Unless you want me to.”

“Oh my God,” Beca muttered, hiding her face in her hands and Chloe laughed. 

“Come on,” Chloe giggled, switching to a sweeter voice and opening netflix. “What do you want to watch?” 

“Uh, nothing?” 

Right, Beca didn’t like movies. Except Chloe totally wanted to at least try to make her watch one with her. She scrolled down a little and when she saw Harry Potter and remembered the sarcastic comment the captain had made about her hoodie months ago, she knew what she needed to do. She clicked on the first one without even asking Beca.

“Dude, I don’t like movies. Especially not Harry Potter.”

“Have you even tried to watch one?”

“Don’t need to watch one to know that shit is for kids.”

Chloe opened her mouth, offended. “Excuse me, Harry Potter is not for kids.”

“Red, it’s a movie about kids with wands and magic.”

“It’s a beautiful saga about friendships and overcoming evil mixed with magic which is like the best combo ever,” she said with sparkling eyes. The arrogant smile that Beca was sporting during their fake argument softened into a real one, like she couldn’t believe Chloe was a real person that was in front of her right now. 

So Chloe pouted at her, giving her her best puppy eyes that no one had ever been able to resist. 

“Please? For me?”

Beca resisted a total of 13 seconds before sighing in defeat. “Fine,” she muttered, crossing her arms.

Chloe grinned, thinking this was easier than she thought it would be. She moved closer to the hockey player so that their hips could touch and she was glad to notice that the girl didn’t flinch or try to move away. She reached to pick up her blanket at the end of her bed and laid it on their legs. The whole thing felt pretty date-like and Chloe’s heart was beating so hard, she was hoping Beca couldn’t hear it. 

“I’m gonna complain the entire time, though,” Beca said as the movie started and Chloe looped her arm around the hockey player’s to find out truly how far she can go with touching Beca. The girl didn’t move nor commented on it and Chloe counted it as another victory. 

“I wouldn’t expect anything else.”

Turns out Beca wasn’t really serious because it had been thirty minutes now since either of them had spoken. Chloe looked to her right every once in a while and Beca’s eyes were always on the screen; she looked pretty bored but still, she was watching the movie.

After another 15 minutes of silence, Beca spoke up. 

“I’m single.”

Chloe’s head snapped to the right in confusion, instantly pausing the movie. Beca winced, like she realized this was a weird thing to say out of nowhere. 

“I mean uh-- I owe you a fact about myself. Because of the game. And my ankle,” she said awkwardly. “So I um, I’m single.”

Chloe was quiet for a moment, processing the words. She had been so into the movie that it took her a couple of seconds to come back to reality. 

“Oh,” Chloe said and then frowned. “I thought you and Jesse were…” 

Beca’s eyes widened and she shook her head. 

“No, we’re not-- I mean, I think a part of him thinks we will be just because I play hockey and he plays hockey but I’m not, like, interested in him. Like that. He’s my friend and all but he’s an idiot.” 

Their arms were still looped so she moved it carefully to wipe her hands on her jeans from how sweaty they became when she heard Beca say those words. Beca was single. And she wasn’t interested in Jesse. 

Suddenly, Chloe wasn’t sure what was keeping her from kissing the hockey player with full force now.

But Beca looked nervous about what she had just said so Chloe smiled, wanting to diffuse the tension. “I’m single, too.” 

The hockey player nodded, a serious look on her face and it was quiet for a moment before she looked at the screen where Harry was paused in the middle of his sentence. 

“This movie sucks by the way.”

Chloe rolled her eyes playfully. “I’m sure you love it but you’re too stubborn to admit it.” She took Beca’s silence for a yes and moved even closer to the girl so that their whole sides were touching. She pressed play before Beca could comment on it but it seemed like she wasn’t going to anyway.

… 

The sound of the front door closing and Aubrey yelling “ _ Hey Chlo! _ ” is what woke her up. She opened her eyes sleepily and tried to move her arm to rub her face before she noticed that she couldn’t move it. She moved her face away from dark hair without thinking anything of it to look at what was happening. 

The laptop was on the edge of the bed, so close to falling off and it displayed the end credits of the movie. She tried to remember when she fell asleep but she couldn’t recall the last scene she had seen. She laid her head back down and that was when she fully realized the reason why she couldn’t move. 

Beca had her head on her shoulder and her right arm firmly wrapped around Chloe’s body, like she was scared the redhead would fall off if she let go. A warm hand was directly on her skin from her shirt riding up. She must have switched position from her back to her stomach unconsciously and Chloe was slightly on her side, her arm tucked under Beca’s. 

Her heartbeat picked up. She was currently cuddling Beca. Beca, the standoffish hockey player that slapped anyone’s hand that tried to touch her away, was currently cuddling her. 

“Chloe?” Aubrey said from downstairs. Chloe wanted to answer her but Beca was still asleep in her arms, her steady breath hitting Chloe’s collarbone and there was no way she was going to wake her up. Beca did seem really tired earlier, but on a more selfish note; Chloe never wanted this moment to end. She didn’t remember the last time she felt this safe and happy in someone’s arms. It was like their bodies fit perfectly together and the thought made Chloe’s heart tug.

She sent Aubrey telepathic thoughts, telling her not to come to her room to disturb her but it seemed like her best friend didn’t get them because she heard footsteps going upstairs. 

For some reason, the ginger decided the best way to deal with this situation would be to pretend to still be asleep so she nuzzled her face in dark hair again, inhaling the scent she was beginning to be quite familiar with and closed her eyes again. Aubrey started speaking again from the hallway. 

“Chloe, are you with someone because there’s a second pair of shoes in…” she trailed off when she opened the door and saw the two bodies on the bed. The door opening must have been slightly too loud for Beca because Chloe felt her breath hitch and then the hockey player stirred in her arms, waking up slowly. Chloe kept her eyes closed, selfishly curious to find out what was going to happen. Warmth left her shoulder when Beca’s head straightened up, but the arm around Chloe’s middle stayed in its place. 

“Uh… hi,” Beca whispered lamely in a rough voice. Her sleepy voice was embarrassingly hot and it took everything in Chloe to not shiver when she heard it. 

“What are you doing here?” Aubrey said rudely, quite loud. 

“I’m remodeling the kitchen,” Beca said sarcastically. “I  _ was _ trying to sleep but you’re here now. And keep your voice down, Red’s still sleeping.”

“Funny,” Aubrey deadpanned and Chloe could just imagine her unimpressed expression, her arms crossed and the vein in her forehead popping out. “She has a name, you know.”

Beca moved her arm for a second and Chloe tightened her grip without thinking, assuming Beca will think it was a subconscious move. Instantly the hockey player’s arm froze and Chloe felt a soft hand rest again on the skin where her shirt had moved up.

“Does she now?” 

Chloe heard Aubrey sigh, “Non Bellas are not supposed to be in here.”

“Chloe didn’t tell me that,” Beca said, her voice sounding confused. Technically it was true but nobody really listened to that rule, the school board didn’t care that much. Except Aubrey.

“Yeah well I’m not surprised she didn’t. She seems to like you, not sure why.”

A part of Chloe’s brain was wondering how the hell these two still thought she was asleep when they were on the verge of an argument right there and then but she let it slide because the banter was kind of funny. Also, Beca’s arm was still around her and her arm was still around Beca so there was nowhere else she’d rather be if she was honest. 

“Believe me, I’m wondering the same damn thing,” Beca said and then her arm tightened around Chloe like she wanted to make sure the redhead was still here and under her care. “Close your door on your way out, yeah?” she said, encouraging Aubrey to leave and somehow it worked. 

Chloe heard the door close and then she felt Beca’s eyes on her. She tried to keep her face the most still possible but Beca chuckled. 

“You’re awake, aren’t you?”

Chloe’s eyes fluttered open and was met with Beca who had a shy smile on her face. She was propped up with one of her elbows so that she could look down at the redhead and keep an arm around her. 

“I wanted to hear the end of that conversation.”

Beca rolled her eyes. “She’s batshit.”

“It’s not like you’re doing anything to make her like you,” Chloe teased, using her finger to poke Beca’s stomach. That was when Beca realized where her arm was and pulled away, a blush creeping on her cheeks. Chloe didn’t know how she managed to not make her face fall at the action. 

“Whatever. I’m not gonna act differently for her.”

Chloe beamed. “You’re right, you don’t need to change. I like your grumpy self just the way it is,” she teased, fully tickling Beca now. The hockey player squirmed under her hand and moved away, a playful smile on her face. “You’re like… a cute little rain cloud.”

Beca rolled her eyes. “Not cute. Also does that make you the embodiment of sunshine then?” She said the words in a teasing tone but she must have realized how adorable it sounded too late and her face turned red. She hid her face in her hands, “Forget I said that. That was so lame” Chloe’s heart fluttered as she giggled. 

“Okay, softie.”

They were both thinking the same thing anyway. Rain clouds and sunshine kinda fit together in an odd way, didn’t they?

“I should get home,” Beca said, sitting up and touching her ankle to see if it hurt. The wince told Chloe it did but the hockey player didn’t speak up about it. 

“I’ll drive you home.”

Beca tried to act nonchalant but Chloe saw right through her. “Cool.”

The dorms were less than a five minute ride and Chloe gave her a hug over the console that Beca returned instantly. She watched Beca limp awkwardly inside the building with a content feeling in her stomach. 

Aubrey was right on one point, though. 

She definitely liked that girl. 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> merry christmas eve to those who celebrate it :)

Today was Regionals. The Dames had a practice earlier that day but Luke had given her the day off so she could do everything she needed to do for tonight. Aubrey had woken her up pretty early, freaking out about everything. It had taken Chloe over an hour to calm her down and tell her they were ready for tonight. 

She was excited. Nervous but excited. She hadn’t performed in front of people in so long and even with her nodes, there was no way she wasn’t going to give it her all. Screw the doctor’s recommendations. She wanted to make it to the ICCA more than anything. 

Every once in a while, she’d go look at the conversation that Stacie had texted her this morning. 

_ stacie _

beca got hit with a case of the grumps. where you at?

_ chloe _

lol wdym

today is regionals so luke let me prepare for it 

_ stacie _

oh right thats today!!! good luck beale

captain has been more moody and reckless than usual today i think she misses you

  
  


Chloe had smiled at the pictures attached that were of Beca in the locker room. The first one was Beca sitting down on the bench, all ready to play except her hair was down and she didn’t have her helmet on yet which happened to be Chloe’s favorite Beca look. Then in the second one, Beca had clearly caught Stacie taking pictures of her and she flipped her off with a bitchy expression on her face and her middle finger in the air. It was also pretty funny since Beca’s text to her had been completely different than the mood Stacie said she was in. 

_ beca :)  _

Good luck tonight, chlo :) 

if stacie tells you i miss you she’s lying ;)

It might not seem like much but the double use of emojis were very telling for someone like Beca that didn’t use any emojis. Chloe had bit her lip from smiling too hard when she received those texts but Aubrey had caught her and eyed her with judgment. 

She never really told Aubrey she liked Beca but she seemed to have caught on pretty easily since the redhead didn’t particularly make it hard to tell. She was pretty sure most of the Dames also knew about her crush. Chloe had made it clear that Beca in the Bellas house was probably something that was going to happen again and the blonde seemed to admit her defeat because she had just sighed and nodded. 

Towards the end of the Dames’ practice, she got a text from Cynthia-Rose that made her laugh out loud.

_ cynthia-rose _

beca just told me to tell you she started playing hockey when she was 7???

_ chloe _

LMAO where did she get hurt this time?

_ cynthia-rose _

her dumbass somehow ended up /in/ the goal behind amy i dont even know how she managed to do that but she’s gonna end up with a few bruises tomorrow

why did she ask me to tell you this??

_ chloe _

its a long story

thanks CR ;)

_ cynthia-rose _

how do you two manage to have sexual tension when youre not even in the same room

  
  


She was in the auditorium with the Bellas, practicing to make sure everything went well. They still had a few hours before the competition and the place they were performing at was close enough that they-- Aubrey-- had managed to squeeze one last rehearsal to make sure everything would be good. Thankfully, the blonde knew about her nodes and gave her a break during the rehearsal while she worked the others. She was still pretty sad about losing her solo during the last song but she was confident in the girl that was replacing her’s talent.

The setlist wasn’t the best but it was safe. She knew the Trebles probably had something completely insane prepared but The Sign had been a classic for the Bellas for ages and they had added Eternal Flame and Turn the Beat Around to make it more exciting. Chloe’s mind drifted to Beca and how the hockey player would probably find it awful to always do the same songs over and over again and how they only did it because Aubrey wanted them to, not the team. 

Maybe she’d even be disappointed in Chloe for never bringing that up to Aubrey’s attention. But she had made peace with the fact that Aubrey had been the captain and she was just a Bella a long time ago. This wasn’t a co-captains situation. 

They made it to the Regionals center and she looked at the Bellas that were all dressed in their costumes that made them look like flight attendants and sighed. She had a feeling they could do so much better but she didn’t know how. She was tightening her yellow bandana around her neck, the adrenaline building up in her body when she heard a voice behind her.

“Yo Red!”

She frowned, turning around and saw Jesse along with the rest of the Treblemakers. He walked towards her and she clenched her jaw. Even though he wasn’t dating Beca didn’t mean Chloe suddenly liked him. 

“I’m pretty sure Beca wouldn’t like you calling me that,” she said to hide the fact that  _ she _ didn’t want him calling her that. That was Beca’s thing for her. 

He smiled a goofy smile. “Beca doesn’t like a lot of things.” 

Aubrey was watching them with narrowed eyes, not liking the fact that Chloe was speaking to a Treble but it’s not like Chloe liked it more either. 

“Beca likes a lot of things. Maybe you’re just not one of the things on that list.”

He chuckled playfully as if Chloe had been joking. She was serious, though. Beca wasn’t the moody person that everyone made her to be and she did like a lot of things. She liked music and hockey and because of their little deal; Chloe could also say that Beca liked vanilla ice cream and she liked the TV show  _ the office.  _ Beca also liked cuddles a lot more than she let on but Chloe was going to keep that one for herself. 

“Anyways, good luck out there, yeah? May the best man/woman win.”

For a second, Chloe wasn’t sure they were talking about Regionals anymore. Whether they were or not, the redhead accepted the challenge. 

The Trebles went before them which might have set them up for failure because it seemed as though the entire crowd decided to take a nap during their own set. Chloe looked at the crowd, a smile glued to her face while she sang but inside, she was deadly worried. She didn’t know if what they were doing was enough to win. The Trebles had made them all get up in their seat, dancing cheerfully while the Bellas made them merely smile. 

Thankfully the third group had been even more of a disaster and the Sockapellas were declared third place while the Treblemakes took the crown. The joy of making it to the semi-finals still made Chloe cheer loudly as she hugged Aubrey happily on stage. As they stood in the parking lot, Aubrey made them all huddle.

“I’m proud of you guys for tonight but we definitely need to be better next time so don’t celebrate too soon.”

Chloe’s smile faltered and the Bellas all slumped their shoulders. The redhead frowned, wondering why Aubrey was never satisfied and she channeled the way Beca acted as captain before and after a game. 

“Girls! We were aca-awesome tonight! You did good and you should be proud. We’ll totally nail the Semi-Finals! I love you awesome nerds.”

Okay maybe she was spending a little too much time with Beca.

Aubrey looked at her strangely but she ignored it because her plan had worked. The joy seemed to be back in the Bellas’ faces and they all tried to put their hands together and hold a note. It worked a bit better than usual so Chloe counted it as a win too. The adrenaline was pumping in her veins and it was pretty late but she couldn’t stop herself from jumping around. She found that there was one person in particular she really wanted to talk to about this.

Without even thinking, she took the direction of the dorms with her car and she only realized what she had done when she parked in front of Beca’s building. 

She scrolled through her contacts' names to find Beca’s and clicked on it even though it was 11 PM and she was probably going to wake both her and her roommate up.

It took a long time but Beca finally picked up with a groggy voice. “Hello?”

“Beca! Hi!” she screamed in her ear. 

“Chloe?”

“Come outside!”

“What?”

“Come outside! I’m outside!” She hung up, getting out of the car and pacing in excitement as she waited for the brunette to come out. Finally, a small girl wearing sweatpants and a tank top made her appearance, looking pretty tired. 

Chloe ran to her and hugged her. Beca chuckled at the impact and she wrapped her arms around Chloe to hug her back. It felt good that Beca didn’t have to think twice about hugging her back now. They must have looked pretty weird just hugging outside the entrance of the Baker Hall, but Chloe had never been someone that was scared of being judged. Besides, the only thing that she felt was joy in this moment.

“Dude, what the fuck is this outfit? You look like a flight attendant.” 

Chloe pulled away, keeping her hands on Beca’s shoulders and ignored the comment. “We did it! We made it to the Semi-Finals! We got second place!”

The teasing smile Beca turned into a genuine one and the sleep completely dissipated from her face. On her own, the hockey player surged forward to hug her again and Chloe felt her heart beating hard in her chest from how happy she felt.

“That’s so great! I’m so proud of you, Red!” 

She wasn’t sure whether it was because she could feel how much Beca meant those words or because of the adrenaline pumping in her but when they pulled away from the hug, Chloe closed the distance between their lips. Beca made a surprised sound against her lips and the redhead realized what she did and pulled away from soft lips.

“Holy shit, Beca I’m so sorr--” Beca cut her off by kissing her and Chloe instantly shut up. 

She closed her eyes and felt the hockey player’s hands pull her closer by the waist. Chloe took control of the kiss quickly, taking Beca’s bottom lip between her lips as she ran her fingers in her hair. It was even better than Chloe had dreamed it to be.

Butterflies in her stomach, fireworks behind her eyelids; all the clichés you could think about, Chloe felt them. She felt so warm all of a sudden, the cold wind having nothing on the effect Beca had on her. The rush she felt on stage, standing in front of people to sing, the thing she loved doing the most on earth, was nothing to what kissing Beca felt like. 

Kissing her felt like everything that Chloe had tried to fill all her life was finally full. 

Beca kissed back with the same intensity, fingernails digging into her hips as their mouths moved in sync together, like they had done so a million times before. It was almost like their lips were made for each other. 

Finally they pulled away and looked at each other, chests heaving. They stayed quiet, listening to the crickets chirping but for some reason, the silence felt heavy. It was different from the usual silence that surrounded them when they were together. This time Beca’s face was unreadable, which was something that hadn’t happened in a while to the redhead that had become quite good at reading Beca. Chloe wasn’t sure what was about to happen next so she took the lead to break the tension. 

“Bec--”

“Um,” Beca cut her off, subconsciously fixing her hair since Chloe had messed it up a little. The red lipstick around her mouth, Chloe’s red lipstick, was an unbelievable sight. She took a step back, creating some distance between them. “I should go back up. I’m probably going to wake up Kimmy-Jin coming back so I’d rather it be sooner rather than later.” 

“Oh. Yeah, of course,” Chloe said, throat suddenly dry. 

“Congrats on making it to the Semi-Finals, dude.” Another step back. 

“Thanks.”

They looked at each other. Seconds ago, their bodies were trying to form one as they kissed and now there was more than 6 feet between them. Chloe felt as though the space it created was more than just physical, though. The wind whistled around them and Chloe shivered.

“Goodnight, Becs.”

“Goodnight, Chlo.”

Beca turned around and entered the building without looking back and Chloe brought her fingers to her lips. She could still feel the shadow of Beca’s lips on hers. Except, she didn’t feel so full anymore.

It felt more like something was overflowing. 

And she didn’t know who was supposed to clean up the mess. 

Maybe Beca had made that decision already.

… 

Chloe woke up the next morning with the kind of headache that you get when you’ve cried yourself to sleep. She opened herself and it took her a second to remember why she was in Aubrey’s bedroom and not hers. 

She had come back to the house feeling pretty shaky. Chloe had always been an emotional person, whether it was sadness or happiness; she felt it to the max. So the rollercoaster that had been that day was pretty much piling up on her and she could not for the love of her, forget the expression that Beca had on her face after they pulled away. 

She wasn’t sure what it meant but she knew it wasn’t good. 

So when she opened the front door and Aubrey looked at her and asked, “ _ What happened to your lipstick? _ ” The tears came in an instant and the blonde reached her just in time for the first tear to fall on her shoulder. 

She let her head fall back on the pillow and sighed. She checked her phone and felt her heart tug when she saw she received no texts from Beca. She wasn’t that surprised but it still hurt. She didn’t regret the kiss. How could she when she felt on top of the moon when the brunette’s lips were on hers? She just wished it had ended differently. 

It wasn’t the first time that Chloe got involved too fast into someone like this and got her heart completely shattered because the person didn’t feel the same way. 

The front door opened and a couple of seconds later, Aubrey walked in her room, slightly breathless after her morning run.

“Oh good you’re awake,” she said.

Chloe groaned, turning on her stomach and putting a pillow over her head. She felt the bed dip and the pillow got removed. A hand stroked her hair and Chloe sighed. 

“Sorry for invading your space last night,” she mumbled against the mattress.

“Hey don’t apologize, silly. I’ll never say no to a sleepover with my best friend.”

Chloe moved again so she could lay her head on Aubrey’s lap. It felt kind of childish but she was sad and needed the physical proximity. Aubrey, used to it, continued stroking her fiery red hair that was all messy from sleep. 

“You wanna tell me what happened, honey? I thought you’d be happy because we moved on to the semi-finals.” she said in a soft voice. 

Chloe hesitated. She wanted to tell her best friend but she didn’t want to feel judged because it was about Beca and the blonde disliked her for some reason. She decided to talk about it because it was all bubbling up inside of her and she hated that feeling.   
  
“Beca and I kissed.”

The hand in her hair froze for a second and then continued. 

“Oh,” Aubrey said and cleared her throat. “I thought you’d be… excited about that.”

“She kind of freaked out afterwards.”

Aubrey scoffed and she opened her mouth before closing it again. Chloe appreciated the fact that the blonde stopped herself from making a snarky comment. 

“I’m sorry, Chlo. You really like her, huh?”

Chloe sat up, cross-legged and stared at Aubrey with her blue eyes. 

“Do you believe in love at first sight, Bree?” 

Aubrey looked taken back and stammered, “Huh, not really no.”

“I do,” Chloe said in a gentle voice. 

“Are you saying you’re in love with her?”

Chloe looked away, Beca’s face popping into her brain. Her sharp features, the snarky smile that she had on when they hung out and the way her steel blue eyes hypnotized Chloe. Those eyes seemed to hide so many things, but everyday, Chloe learned a new thing about Beca and the thought of that streak ending terrified her.

“I don’t know. But the first time I met her, I knew I needed to get to know her. It was like the universe was telling me something,” she said heavily, feeling the weight of her feelings for the girl on her chest. “I want to find out everything about her. I want to be the person that knows her the most, I don’t care if that makes me selfish.”

“You’re heading in the right direction,” Aubrey replied and continued when Chloe looked at her in question. “You know the party that I went to with the Dames? Well I was talking to… Fat Amy and she said that she’s never seen someone invade Beca’s personal space that fast without Beca rejecting them. Apparently, Beca’s a really private person.”

Chloe laughed. “Well I knew that.”

“But is she private with you? Look, I don’t know her and I don’t particularly want to get to know her but she doesn’t seem like the type to take naps in the middle of the day to cuddle with her friends and somehow that’s how I found you guys last weekend. Maybe this is just a lot of new things for her and you need to give her a chance.”

That… actually made a lot of sense and the redhead couldn’t believe she didn’t figure that out on her own. She was aware that sometimes she was a lot for certain people and it’s only normal that someone like Beca would feel nervous about all of this. She suddenly felt relieved. Even though the ideal situation wouldn’t have ended that way, it didn’t mean it was over. 

It was going to be okay. 

So it was with that mindset that she walked into the arena for the practice on Tuesday. She passed by Gail and Luke at the entrance, waving hello and walked to the hallway. She looked at the zamboni on the ice, already hearing the chatters of the girls down the hall. 

“Amy! Put me down!” she heard Emily scream and when she walked into the room, she walked into one of the most terrifying scenes she had ever seen.

Amy, not her uniform yet, had Emily over her shoulder and was spinning in circles. The younger player was currently wearing her skates so it was actually really dangerous and Chloe’s eyes widened. No one seemed to think about how much of a hazard it was, instead choosing to laugh at the scene. 

“Amy!” Chloe shouted over the laughs. “Stop that right now!” 

Amy stopped and looked like a deer caught in headlights. Emily picked her head up and turned at a weird angle so she could see behind her, where Chloe was. She looked pale, like she was going to throw up at any second. 

“What do you think you’re doing? Put her down,” she said in a commanding voice and Amy listened, bending down to let Emily’s skates touch the floor. She walked to the player and cupped her cheeks. “You okay, sweetie?”

Emily just nodded, her face slowly regaining colors. Amy sighed. “Great. Another mom to supervise us. Thought we could finally have some fun without Mitchell here.”

“Please, are you surprised Chloe takes over mom duties when Beca isn’t there. They’re like this disgusting married couple,” Stacie said in a laugh as the goalie finally started getting ready for the practice. 

She ignored the comment and looked around to notice that Beca was in fact not there. Great. She kisses Beca and then the next practice, the girl misses her first ever practice. That didn’t sound bad at all. She chose to give her the benefit of the doubt and pulled out her phone. 

_ red _

hey, you’re not at practice?

_ beca :) _

felt sick

gail already knows

sorry

_ red _

do you need anything? soup, company?

_ beca :) _

nope its ok

thx

_ red _

hope you feel better soon xx

  
  


She waited until Gail called them on the ice to accept the fact that Beca wasn’t going to answer her. She guessed it was good the hockey player had answered in the first place because she wasn’t really expecting her to. Chloe had tried to give her space and by that, she meant not texting her every single time something random happened. 

She had built the kind of texting relationship with Beca where Chloe could send her a picture of a dog she saw on the street and an hour later they’d be talking about whether they believed in aliens (Chloe did, Beca didn’t). So it felt weird to not be texting her. It had only been 3 days but the ginger already missed her dearly, especially since they ended on such a weird note. 

Gail was talking to some of the players and Luke was making sure Lilly’s hockey stick was the right height for her when a hockey player pulled Chloe out of her thoughts. She had been distracted all practice, thinking of the only one who wasn’t here right now. 

“Hey Chloe.”

The ginger looked up and Emily looked shy behind her helmet. She smiled warmly at her. “Hey Em, how are you?”

“I’m good, thanks. Listen I just wanted to thank you for earlier.”

“No worries!” Chloe said. “It was actually really dangerous. I’m surprised no one ended up with their throat sliced or something.”

Emily laughed nervously. “Yeah, things get chaotic without Beca around. She sorts of keeps us all in check.”

“Must be why she’s captain,” Chloe said, throat tightening at the mention of her crush. 

Emily didn’t seem to notice a change. “Yeah. Do you know if she’s okay? She never misses a practice usually.”

“She told me she didn’t feel too good.”

“That sucks,” Emily said, kicking her skate in the ice a little. “Funny how last practice you were the one that was gone and she was sad and now she’s gone and you’re sad.” 

“I’m not-- sad,” Chloe stammered but her heart rate picked up at the thought of Beca missing her so much last practice that other players noticed it. 

Emily laughed. “It’s okay if you miss your girlfriend, Chloe. We know you’re mainly here for her.”

Chloe gaped, taking a moment to take Emily’s words in. “I’m not-- uh first of all I’m technically here for a school project and besides I consider you all my friends at this point. And second, Beca isn’t… we aren’t dating.” 

The hockey player’s mouth fell open and her cheeks turned red and not from exhaustion. “Oh my stars, I’m-- I’m sorry I really thought-- You just act so much like a couple and I thought you were. I’m sorry if I made things awkward.” 

Chloe put her hand on Emily’s glove in reassurance. “Hey, it’s okay. Easy mistake.”

Was it? She tried thinking of the way they looked from an outside point of view. She thought of how Beca skated towards her every time they had a break, sometimes even when they weren’t on a break and Gail would yell at her before she’d go back and crush it. The way sometimes Beca would do a cool trick shot and yell out  _ “Did you see that, Red?”  _ She thought of the little moments they would share in the locker room while she took care of her silly injuries and how sometimes, they’d get interrupted in the middle of a tender moment by the other girls. She thought of Beca hugging her before and after every practice and then slapping Stacie’s hand away before it touched her. 

Emily seemed to get over it quickly. “Hey, you’re in the Bellas right? My mom was one.”

“No way!” Chloe said enthusiastically. “You’re a Legacy!”

The girl nodded shyly, “Yeah, I’m thinking of joining next year.”

Chloe’s smile dimmed when she realized she wasn’t going to be a Bella next year. 

“You totes should. We’re the tits.”

Gail whistled loudly and Emily waved her goodbye and Chloe tried to swallow down the knot in her throat. 

Turns out a Beca-less practice was less eventful and Chloe hated to admit it-- slightly less interesting. She had just gotten used to following the fast player around with her eyes and now that she wasn't there, Chloe could only think of the reason why she  _ was _ absent. Aubrey’s words echoed in her mind and it took everything in her to not take the direction of the dorms when practice was over. 

Instead, she went to the house and busied herself with school work to keep her mind off steel blue eyes. Now that everything had spilled out, Chloe was going to have to clean it up and she’d make sure to keep a lid on it next time. To protect it. To protect them. 


	9. Chapter 9

Somehow, she managed to make it till Saturday without texting Beca. She had concentrated on the Bellas and on work but it didn’t mean the hockey player left her mind. It didn’t help that the Bellas were practicing the same exact routine for the Semi-Finals so she didn’t have to learn anything new. Chloe found out that she had the talent to sing, dance  _ and _ think of Beca all at once. 

She got to the arena earlier than usual that day because she was anxious to see the girl who had been on her mind since last week. She can’t believe it had been a week already since they kissed. Chloe swore she could still feel what it felt like to kiss her sometimes, to have the shadow of her lips on hers.

She closed the door of her car and froze when she saw the familiar brunette make her way to the arena, the heavy hockey bag on her shoulder. 

“Beca!” she called out before she could stop herself. The hockey player turned at her name and stopped in her tracks when she saw Chloe approaching her. 

“Oh. Hey Chloe.” 

“Are you feeling better?” the ginger said when she had finally caught up to her. 

“What?”

“You were feeling sick.”

“Oh right. Yeah, I am.”

There was a beat of silence as they both stared at each other. Even their first conversation hadn’t been this awkward. Chloe wondered how they got to this point in so little time. Could one simple kiss really destroy everything that Chloe had done to get to know the hockey player? She refused to let that happen. 

She started walking in the direction of the entrance and Beca followed her. “I finished my essay last night. The one I was telling you about, on animal philosophy? The one that was kicking my ass?” she said, trying to make the conversation light.

“Yeah?”

“I think I did okay.”

“That’s cool.”

Silence again. Thankfully it was a short distance between the door and the locker room and the Dames who were already there having a conversation easily hid the fact that the two were quiet. Beca went to her corner to start getting ready and Chloe stayed at the door, her heart heavy on her chest. 

“Hey Chloe,” Emily said warmly.

Chloe instantly smiled. The girl was so sweet and kind of reminded her of a younger her. “Hey Legacy.”

Emily beamed at the nickname. From the corner of her eyes, Chloe could see Beca looking at them. But since she was too stubborn to actually start a conversation with them, she just went back to putting her uniform on, her face blank from any emotion. 

Once again, practice was uneventful, even with Beca there. When she was usually fast and reckless in her movements, this time she seemed to take it slower. Maybe because she was still a little bit sick, maybe because she didn’t want to risk getting injured, Chloe wasn’t sure but she’d like to think Beca wouldn’t do that to her. 

Beca disappeared in the showers right after practice so Chloe decided there was no point really sticking out around any longer. Beca needed more space and the redhead had invaded her personal life way too much already to deny her that right now. 

After talking to Luke for a few minutes, she made her way to her car. She kept her eyes fixed on the ground until she heard a voice call her name. 

“Chloe?”

She wasn’t sure who she expected to see in the arena Kennedy’s parking lot on a Saturday morning but it certainly wasn’t her ex-boyfriend Tom. Tom who had cheated on her and she had to find out by a random girl sending her a text telling her the boy hadn’t told her about her existence and she was so sorry. 

“Tom?” She looked around, seeing what was here for him since he played football, not hockey. “What are you doing here?”

“I came here to see my buddy Jack play. He has a game here at noon.”

Chloe noticed that the arena’s parking lot was in fact full of cars. Way more than usual.

“Oh.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m a trainee with the Dames’ athlete trainer”

He nodded. “Cool.” There was a pause and then he looked at his watch. “Listen the game doesn’t start for another hour, if you want we could grab some coffee and--”

She took a step back, a tense feeling setting in her stomach. 

“No, thank you.”   
  
He took a step forward, with an easy smile on his face. “Come on, don’t be like that, Chloe. We ended on such bad terms I just wanna make sure you’re alright.”

“Tom, I really don't feel comfortable--”

“I just want to talk, don’t make it into a big deal. I just think--”

“Everything okay, Red?” A voice cut him off and she looked to her right to see Beca. The girl put her hockey bag down and crossed her arms to appear intimidating and somehow, even though she was 5’2 and Tom was 6’1, he seemed uncomfortable. 

“Yeah, dude. Just inviting her for coffee, that’s all.”

Beca looked at her and Chloe gulped. “Becs, this is Tom,” she said to her, knowing fully Beca  _ knew _ who Tom was. She had told her by text a few weeks ago and the hockey player’s immediate reply had been  _ “I’m going to punch this guy if I ever see him.” _

“Tom.” Beca repeated and then looked at the footballer. “You’re Tom. The ex-boyfriend who cheated on her.” 

He got a weird look on his face, almost guilty-looking but not quite. “Uh, I mean it was a long time ago. I definitely regret it now and--” 

Beca’s fist collided with his face before he could finish his sentence. It happened so fast Chloe hadn’t even seen her get ready for the hit. She gasped loudly as Tom and Beca cried out in pain at the same time. Tom’s hands flew to his nose and he turned away from them and Beca cradled her hand closer to her body. 

“Holy  _ fuck _ that hurts. Oh my God?” she said, her face in evident pain as she shook her hand a little and looked at Chloe with wide eyes. “Why don’t they tell you it hurts this much in movies?” 

Chloe finally got over her shock over what just happened and took her hand carefully, completely forgetting about the boy next to them who was still crying out in pain. “Are you okay? Why would you do that?”

Beca held her other fist to her forehead and looked at the sky, like she was trying to keep herself from crying. “I thought that was gonna hurt a lot more for him than me. Fuck!” Chloe handled her hand gently, touching her knuckles to make sure nothing was broken. She was going to have a nasty bruise tomorrow.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Tom finally said with one hand still on his nose. There wasn’t any blood so thankfully it wasn’t broken that’s for sure.

Beca took a step towards him, “You want me to finish the job, football boy?”

“Jesus fuck--” he said, taking a step back and he looked at Chloe with a panicky expression. Chloe could only gape at him and finally he shook his head and left. Beca followed him with her eyes to make sure he wasn’t turning back and when the glass door closed behind him, she released a breath. She looked at her hand in Chloe’s hands and put her other one on her shoulder, as if she was leaning on the ginger. 

“You okay?”

Chloe looked at her with wide eyes, still slightly confused as to what the hell just happened. “Am I okay? Are  _ you _ okay? Why did you punch him?” She hated violence and if she had seen the punch coming, she would have definitely stopped it. 

But.

It did happen and it was… kinda hot. 

“I told you I would if I ever saw him,” Beca said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Chloe’s worried expression softened and she looked at the hockey player, amazed at the person that was in front of her. Beca was looking tenderly at her and everything felt okay again. Seemed like a punch in an idiot’s face was the lid they needed to keep everything contained once again. 

Chloe released a breathy laugh in disbelief. “Come on, we’ll get you home and I’ll take a look at that hand.”

She didn’t  _ need _ to take a look at her hand that bad, it was obviously not broken. Even if it did hurt for Beca, there wasn’t much Chloe could do about it.. But Chloe had missed Beca so much and it felt so good to be in her presence again. It finally stopped feeling awkward so she was going to take advantage of it. 

She knew Beca knew that by the twinkle in her eyes but she seemed to want the same thing because she nodded with a smile on the corner of her mouth. 

Chloe followed Beca’s car to her dorm building and she tried to forget the fact that when she was there last week, they had ended up kissing. Beca was waiting for her at the entrance and she looked just as nervous so Chloe pretended everything was fine for her sake. 

“Alright, take me to your humble abode, Beca Mitchell,” she said with a smile. She took Beca’s uninjured hand and swung it comically as they walked inside. Beca rolled her eyes but her face was split in a grin so Chloe knew it was okay. Finally, they stopped in front of a door and she let go of her hand so Beca could unlock it. 

“I hope Kimmy-Jin isn’t there,” Beca whispered and opened it a little so she could look inside. She breathed out and swung it open when she saw her roommate wasn’t there. 

The room was small with two beds on each side of the room and Chloe easily guessed Beca’s side was on the right because of the mess and all the music equipment on the desk. She looked at the textbooks on the bed and the floor and the opened closet revealing clothes barely hanging on hangers. There were shelves filled with vinyl records and some band posters.

The hockey player looked nervously around the room and closed her closet after putting her hockey bag in it. “I didn’t know I’d have company,” she tried to explain. 

Chloe shook her head and sat on the bed, making herself bounce a little. “I understand why your roommate hates you now.”

Beca laughed, continuing her little clean-up. “Shut up. The only person I have over is Jesse and he’s just as messy as I am so he can’t say shit.”

Chloe didn’t particularly want to talk about Jesse so she changed the subject. “Do you have ice? For your hand.”

“Um probably in the kitchen,” Beca said and didn’t move. Chloe looked at her expectantly until the girl realized she needed to go get the ice and the redhead didn’t know where the kitchen was. “Oh! I’ll be right back.”

Chloe laughed as Beca scrambled out the room. She stayed on the bed for 5 seconds before her curiosity got the best of her and she went over to Beca’s desk. Her laptop was hooked to her computer as they both displayed some sort of music program and a pair of expensive headphones attached to her laptop. The redhead’s fingers lingered on them but she didn’t pick them up because she didn’t want to betray Beca’s trust like that. 

She wondered what kind of incredible things she’d hear if she were to put them on. She was pretty sure that just like hockey, Beca’s music would be a reflection of herself; subtle but bold. Beca was someone that was overlooked most of the time because of her small height and quiet demeanor but once you got to know her, she was someone that stood firm in her opinions and didn’t take shit from anybody. 

Hence the bruised hand she was going to get soon.

“You can put them on if you want to,” Beca’s voice interrupted her thoughts, referring to the headphones. She had a paper towel with ice wrapped in it on her hand which was basically the reason Chloe had come here in the first place so her job here as “Nurse Beale” was done. 

“Are you sure?”

Beca nodded, a soft smile on her face. She sat on the edge of the bed, close to the desk. “I usually don’t let anybody touch them but I seem to be making a few exceptions for you so why not,” she said shyly. 

Chloe sat down at the desk chair and put on the headphones. Beca reached over her to start the music from the start and Chloe’s heart picked up at the coconut scent coming from her hair. It was gone in seconds and suddenly, the ginger was only focused on the music that had started playing. 

“I find songs with the same chord progressions and create a track that blends them all together. This is the new baseline, this matches up the downbeats and I’m just going to let you listen to it now,” she said loudly so Chloe could hear her over the headphones. 

She was right when she expected her music to be just another thing Beca was excellent in. Then a soft voice started singing and butterflies swarmed in her stomach again at the sound of Beca’s voice. She hadn’t heard it in so long and it sounded just as perfect as she remembered it. 

“You’re singing!” she said with a grin on her face. She probably talked louder than she expected because Beca flinched a little and then blushed before nodding. “Beca, this is  _ really _ good!” 

Beca took off her headphones, hands brushing against fiery red hair. “Right, let’s stop this before we get a noise complaint.”

Chloe wasn’t embarrassed. She took Beca’s hands and tugged on them so she’d bend slightly forward, bringing their faces close to each other. “You are so talented, Becs. How do you know what songs would go together?”

Beca shrugged and Chloe figured that was just something the hockey player was born with, she couldn’t really explain it. She looked at her in awe. She couldn’t believe this small little girl who had more talent in her than anyone else Chloe had ever met was sitting in front of her, looking like she didn’t realize how wonderful she was. 

“You’re amazing,” she couldn’t help but say.

Beca shrugged again and Chloe surged forward, making Beca fall on her back on the bed with a yelp. Chloe was on top of her, pinning her down and started tickling her. Beca started squirming underneath her, laughing as she tried to breathe at the same time. 

“Come on! Say you’re amazing! Say it!” she yelled over the laughter. Her fingers were moving fast on Beca’s body; going from her stomach to her neck. 

Beca’s legs were swinging in the air, trying to move but Chloe was also pretty strong. Finally in between breaths, she said “Okay-- Okay stop I will!” The redhead stopped tickling her but kept her thighs on each side of Beca’s waist. The hockey player took a few breaths to calm down and Chloe looked at her, the joy in her chest making her feel like she was floating. 

Finally, Beca opened her eyes and different shades of blue met. The hockey player opened her mouth and Chloe was ready to hear the words she wanted to hear but instead the lips formed a smile. 

Before she realized what was happening, Beca took her by the arms to shove her down the mattress and climbed on top of the redhead, exchanging positions. Chloe gaped at her as Beca raised an arrogant eyebrow. Her mouth dried up and she probably felt more turned on than she ever had in her entire life. 

“What do you have to say about that, Red?” she said in a husky voice from having laughed so much. 

Chloe couldn’t think of anything in response right now. Chloe Beale, the girl who could small talk her way into anything she wanted, who spoke to strangers in coffee shops and became friends with waiters in restaurants, had no idea what to say right now. 

All she could concentrate on was Beca’s body touching her, pinning her down by the shoulders with her hands and her legs holding Chloe’s body. She closed her mouth and swallowed and Beca seemed to realize the situation they were in too because her face turned serious and she pinched her lips together. 

Suddenly, Beca bent down and attached their lips together for the third time ever. Chloe kissed back instantly, grabbing the back of her neck with force. Beca moved her body so she could lay down fully on top of her and the redhead made a sound at the feeling of her body laying on hers. 

After a few seconds, Chloe shifted positions once again so she could take full control. She moved their bodies so that Beca’s head would hit the pillow and she kept one hand on her neck while the other one was holding herself up. Beca kissed her fervently and her hands moved around Chloe’s back until she finally settled them on her hips. 

Chloe swiped her tongue on Beca’s bottom lip and the girl moaned slightly, letting Chloe’s tongue in. She pulled away for a second to move angles but Beca must’ve thought she wanted to pull away from good because she picked her head up to follow after her. Chloe smiled teasingly which made Beca bite her lip gently and the redhead instantly felt the warmth in the pit of her stomach. 

She suddenly remembered what happened last time they did this and she detached her lips from Beca’s with a sound. Chloe looked at her closed eyes and heaving chest before Beca finally came back to reality too. Her pupils were dilated and Chloe was pretty sure her own eyes looked pretty similar. 

“What are we doing?” Chloe asked, slightly breathless. She didn’t want this to end weirdly again. 

“I don’t know,” Beca whispered. “But I don’t want to stop.”

That was basically the confirmation that Chloe needed to prove that the hockey player wasn’t going to freak out again so she bent down and kissed her again. Beca accepted the kiss happily and everything felt full. It was all tucked and safe in her heart once again. 

Both too caught up in each other, they didn’t hear the door unlock until Kimmy-Jin stepped into the room. Chloe picked herself up but didn’t move away from on top of Beca and she was pretty sure Beca’s face turned redder than her hair. Kimmy-Jin looked at them with the most annoyed expression Chloe had ever seen on a person but the senior simply smiled at her. 

“Hey, I’m Chloe. I would shake your hand but I’m kind of busy,” she tried to joke the tension but Beca’s roommate didn’t seem amused in the slightest. Beca muttered an “ _ Oh my God _ ” while she hid her face in Chloe’s neck.

“I expect her to be gone when I come back, Beca,” Kimmy-Jin said, throwing her bag on her bed and leaving. 

“Okay, bye!” Chloe said in a cheerful voice and looked back at Beca with a smile. It took two seconds of silence before they both burst into laughter and Chloe let herself fall on Beca’s body. Their bodies shook with laughter and stayed in their embrace with Beca’s arms around her and Chloe’s face in dark hair. 

It took them some time to calm down and finally, Chloe moved on her back next to Beca as they both released a breath at the same time.

“I should go,” Chloe said against her will. There was nothing else she wanted to do more than stay here but Aubrey was probably wondering where she was and she had school work to do. 

Beca seemed to feel the same way because she sighed. “Yeah I guess you should before Kimmy-Jin sees you here again or you’re gonna get added to her black list.” 

Chloe got up and bent down to put on her shoes while Beca stood up and fixed herself up a little. She had the I-clearly-just-made-out-with-someone look and the fact that Chloe knew it was _her_ that had been kissing her made her feel all sorts of tingly. When the redhead stood up, Beca had a nervous expression on her face and Chloe made sure to keep things light and far from awkward. 

She hugged Beca like she always did when they said goodbye and smiled at her warmly. “Bye Becs.”

“Bye Chlo,” Beca said and opened the door from her after pulling away from the hug. 

“Don’t forget to ice that hand, okay?” Chloe said, walking backwards a couple of steps. 

“Will do.”

She winked at Beca and then walked down the hallway feeling the hockey player’s eyes on her the whole time. When she reached the stairway, she allowed herself to squeal a little before continuing her route. She didn’t know what today had meant and she was determined to not pressure Beca too much into it because it felt great. 

She could take it as slow as humanly possible if it meant she got to kiss Beca like that again. 


	10. Chapter 10

At the practice on Tuesday, it was like nothing ever happened. But not in the weird uncomfortable way like last week, more like the nothing changed between the two of us and we’re still friends way which is  _ way  _ better. 

They started texting constantly again about everything and nothing and Aubrey had been rolling her eyes at every dinner when they were interrupted by Chloe’s phone buzzing. She hadn’t told her about their second kiss because she had a feeling she’d be against it. Well not  _ against it _ but it’s just that Aubrey seemed to be easy on pointing out how Beca was distracting Chloe from Bellas practice and for Aubrey that was a tragedy. Even if the blonde had been nice to her when she was sad, she was pretty sure Aubrey didn’t want Chloe to pursue a relationship with the girl with the “ear monstrosities”. 

Not that they were in a relationship now but it’s not like Chloe didn’t want that in the future. Whatever, she wasn’t thinking about it. She wasn’t. 

They had a game on Sunday and winning 3-0 with Beca counting all the goals must have made the dark-haired girl feel a similar way than Chloe after Regionals because she pinned the redhead to the wall outside the arena as soon as they were out. 

Chloe kissed back with passion, liking that this was becoming a  _ thing.  _ “Um-- someone was-- on fire-- today,” Chloe said between kisses and Beca’s body seemed to be buzzing with adrenaline. 

“You impressed, Red?” Beca said, moving her lips onto her jaw and then her neck. Chloe’s eyes rolled to the back of her head and groaned at the feeling. 

“Do you want me to be?”

Beca pulled away and looked at her with wanting eyes. “Yes.”

Chloe’s mouth went dry. “Wanna go back to my place and make out?”

“Let’s do it.”

Aubrey was out with some friends with her Pilates class at this time of the day so they didn’t have to worry about her catching them. It wasn’t a thing they had talked about, whatever that was but they knew they didn’t really want anyone knowing before they fully figured it out. 

After a half hour of kissing on Chloe’s bed and the redhead’s shirt being thrown off the bed, Beca’s stomach grumbled. Chloe pulled away with a teasing smile but Beca looked embarrassed so she spoke up casually. 

“I’m hungry too. I think we have some leftovers from last night we could eat?” Before Beca could even really agree to it, she rolled away from on top of Beca’s body and practically skipped downstairs without even putting a shirt on. She was confident, what can she say?

She had already put two bowls of pasta in the microwave and was humming to herself when Beca arrived downstairs. She leaned on the island in the middle of the kitchen and smiled at the redhead, her bottom lip between her teeth and Chloe felt smug when she noticed Beca’s eyes were on her body. 

“You’re in a good mood.”

“I’m always in a good mood.”

“Won’t argue with you there. It’s kinda sickening, really.” 

“Hush you,” Chloe said with a grin and pointed to a cabinet. “Make yourself useful and fill up some glasses with water.”

“Aye aye captain.”

“That’s you actually,” Chloe said and she jumped to sit on the counter waiting for the microwave to beep. “Although you weren’t really a good one today. You kept all the goals to yourself.”

Beca chuckled and stood next to Chloe to fill up the glasses in the sink. Chloe looked at her hand and cringed at the deep purple bruise that still colored her knuckles. She really did a number on Tom’s face and she wondered if he shared a matching bruise on his face. 

“That is actually called a “hat trick” and it’s a pretty big deal in hockey so you should be impressed instead of mocking me.”

“I am impressed,” Chloe said with a wink and jumped off the counter when the food was ready. “I thought we settled that already.” Beca’s cheeks heat up slightly and took the bowl that Chloe handed to her. “Wanna watch a movie while we eat?”

The hockey player groaned while following Chloe up the stairs. “Are you gonna make me watch Harry Potter 2?”

“That’s a great idea!”

“Fuck.”

About 10 minutes after they had finished eating, Beca started sucking Chloe’s neck gently and the movie was long forgotten. She had already seen it so many times before and the hockey player didn’t seem to care for it that much so she didn’t see any downsides to the situation. 

Chloe had just slipped her hand under Beca’s shirt to make things more fair when the front door downstairs opened. “Hey Chloe, I’m back from lunch!” 

Beca sighed, laying back down on the pillow and Chloe hurried to put her shirt back on. “I’m in my room with Beca!” she yelled back and looked at the girl laying on her bed. Her dark messy hair in contrast with the white pillows and her slightly bruised lips from all the kissing. Beca really was beautiful and Chloe had a feeling she didn’t know it. 

So she said it. “You’re beautiful.”

Beca looked shocked and she blushed. “Oh. Um thanks. You-- you too obviously. You’re like, basically the most beautiful girl I’ve ever met.” 

Chloe beamed and she was about to bend down to kiss her once again even though Aubrey was in the house when the girl in the question knocked and opened her door. 

“Shoes go in the closet. I nearly tripped on them,” she said quite rudely. Chloe smiled apologetically because she always forgot that rule. Especially today since she and Beca managed to enter the house without really looking at where they were going, mouths attached to one another. 

“Sorry Bree.”

“Hey Audrey,” Beca said.

“You know it’s Aubrey.”

“Wait,” Beca paused, sitting up dramatically to lean her back against the wall. “You changed your name? Audrey fit you better.” 

Aubrey just sighed heavily and closed the door. Chloe nudged her on the leg with a pout. 

“I wish you guys would get along.”

Beca looked like she wanted to say something but when she saw the expression on her face, she sighed. “Okay. Sorry, that one was definitely my fault. I’ll try to be better.”

“Thank you,” Chloe said, gaining her smile back.

“It’s just kinda funny seeing that vein pop.”

Chloe chuckled. “I know but I try to keep this house a happy place because in the auditorium, she’s a completely different person.”

“Why are you even friends with her?”

“She’s actually a really good friend when she wants to be,” Chloe started, propping herself up with pillows to lay down comfortably. “We met during freshman year at the Bellas audition. We were the only two freshmen that got added that year so we kinda stuck to each other’s side. At first, she didn’t really want to be friends with me but-- Shut up,” she said when she saw Beca’s face and continued. “But I was there for her when her dad didn’t come to our first competition and after that, we really became friends.”

“Her dad?”

“Yeah,” Chloe nodded. “He’s this important guy in the military and he hasn’t been around as much as she’d want him to be. Not that she’d ever admit that out loud. He’s never been to one of our shows.” 

Beca was silent for a moment. “That actually explains a lot.”

“Yeah, I know. For him, life is a competition and Posens have to win it. I’m not even sure how that works. On top of that, Alice, our former Bellas captain, really disliked Aubrey so when she became captain, she kinda became crazy with the idea of proving how good she was to everyone that had ever wronged her.”

“Yikes.”

“But she’s a good friend,” Chloe repeated. “She’s been there with me for my ups and downs and I’m there for her the same way.”

Beca smiled, “I can’t imagine you in your downs.”

“Oh I can go down,” Chloe replied smugly and Beca’s face turned completely red. 

“Oh my God,” she muttered, hiding her face in her hands while Chloe laughed. She took Beca’s wrists and pulled her down next to her. The hockey player hid her face in the pillows for a second before they both moved on their sides to lay down facing each other. Chloe tucked a strand of dark hair between her ear and Beca looked at her with a tender expression. 

“Tell me something about you,” Chloe whispered like speaking too loud would break this moment. 

“More things?” Beca said softly, teasing the ginger. “When will it stop?

“Until I know every single thing about you,” Chloe answered honestly, tucking her arm under head. 

“That defies the purpose of me being a mysterious badass hockey player.”

“You already lost that credibility a while ago.”

“Ouch,” Beca said, putting a hand over her heart.

“Come on, tell me something I don’t know.”

“Did I get hurt or something? I don’t owe you anything, Red.” Chloe sighed and Beca dropped the act. “Alright, alright. Let me think.” 

“Something meaningful too,” Chloe said, poking the hockey player in the stomach. “None of that bullshit you told me at practice last week.”

“Excuse you, Beale. I happen to think the fact that I failed my math class in 4th grade is  _ very _ interesting.” 

“You’re right, sorry. It’s very interesting.”

“I mean, fuck. If what I tell you isn’t good enough maybe that just means I’m not good e-”

“Beca!”

“I would think that you’d be proud of me for not getting hurt today but seems like you actually do want me to get hurt just so you can use me.”

“You’re annoying.” 

Beca laughed. “Okay, sorry sorry. Stop distracting me with your freakishly blue eyes so I can think of something.” Chloe comically closed her eyes and she listened to the sound of Beca breathing for a few seconds. 

“You have blue eyes too, you know?”

“Yeah but yours are like, mesmerizing. I feel like I’m about to get hypnotized everytime. Anyway, shut up I’m trying to think.” Chloe chuckled and Beca let out a breath when she was ready. “Alright, I got something.”

She opened her eyes and noticed the girl looked slightly more nervous than she did a minute ago. 

“Hit me.”

“It’s dark shit. Are you ready, Red?”

“Please.”

Beca took a deep breath. “Okay so when I was like 7, my dad and my mom started arguing. A lot. Like they’d wake up mad and they’d go to bed mad. It was weird because at that age you have no fucking idea what love is, right? All you got is your parents to show you what it is and mine were screaming each other’s heads off.” 

She took a pause, looking deeply in Chloe’s eyes. The redhead waited for her to continue. 

“I started playing hockey during that time because it kept me out of the house and gave me something to focus on besides the shitshow at home. The only time they would shut up would be at my hockey games. They ended up getting a divorce like 2 years after but the damage was done, you know? Then my dad started dating this random woman and moved 3000 miles away. My mom stopped sticking around for my hockey games and my dad was too far to go see them.”

Chloe thought of Beca at her first practice. How she didn’t seem to want to engage in any sort of conversation with Chloe, how she only wanted to play hockey and keep to herself. She thought of the uncomfortable look on Beca’s face when she explained to her she was only here because her dad forced her to and how it must probably feel to have to listen to a parent that wasn’t even there for your teenage years. She imagined a tiny little Beca, propping a pillow over her head so she didn’t have to hear her parents screaming. 

She wanted to reach out and take the hockey player in her arms to try to fix something-- anything but that’s not how it worked, though. Besides, she knew that wasn’t the way to go with Beca. 

Chloe waited to make sure she was done before speaking up. “How’s your relationship with him now?”

“Weird,” Beca said in a breath. “I don’t know, I can see he regrets leaving us. He tried to call me a lot but eventually I guess I just stopped answering.”

“Why?”

“I shut him out. I shut the whole world out. It’s easier.”

“Isn’t it lonely?”

Beca’s jaw clenched and Chloe worried she said the wrong thing before the hockey player relaxed her face and sighed, looking away from her.

“Yeah.” A beat. “Yeah it is. But…”

“But?”

“But sometimes, once in a goddamn blue moon I guess, someone makes you feel less lonely.”

Beca’s eyes met hers again and Chloe reached a hand to stroke her cheek. She did it so carefully, it was like her fingers almost didn’t touch her skin. Beca’s breath hitched and Chloe brushed them over her lips, like a whisper. 

“Do you believe in soulmates, Beca?”

“I don’t know.”

“I think I do. Not the concept of meeting your ‘other half’ because I don’t think someone is necessarily incomplete until they meet the right person. I think we’re always complete but a part of us is hidden until we meet them. It’s like… you become more yourself when you meet them, you know? You become more full of yourself.”

“I think I like that.”

“Me too.” 

… 

Chloe was at Bellas rehearsal, her mind drifting to Beca every couple of seconds. The way she looked when she was shirtless underneath her, whimpering under Chloe’s lips. The girl was with Jesse currently and the ginger wondered what they were doing. She knew that they were not doing anything that warranted her to feel jealous because after all, Beca was kissing  _ her _ quite often. But she knew Jesse had a crush on the hockey player and she hoped to God he wouldn’t do anything about it. 

“Okay girls,” Aubrey said, clapping her hands to gather everyone’s attention. “Our score sheet revealed that The Sockappellas almost beat us. We need to bust our asses if we’re going to make it to the Finals.”

“Or try a new approach,” Chloe muttered to herself but Aubrey heard it. 

“What was that, Chloe?” 

All the heads turned to the redhead and she cleared her throat, suddenly gaining some confidence. “The reason why we almost lost to the Sockappellas is because they took a risk. Being good isn’t enough to win. Beca’s right. The Trebles never sing the same song twice.”

“What does Beca have to do with this?” Aubrey said, crossing her arms. 

“She just told me what Jesse’s been saying to her. The audience  _ loves _ the Trebles. They  _ tolerate  _ us. Aubrey, we could seriously change the face of a cappella if you would just let us do something else! Look Beca’s been showing me how she does music and it’s actually pretty interesting. She does these arrangements and--”

“Enough!” Aubrey cut her off, her voice echoing in the auditorium. “Last I heard, Beca wasn’t part of this team and she’s caused enough distractions.  _ I  _ have the pitch pipe and I say we focus on the set list.” She looked at all the girls one by one. “From now on, we eat, sleep, and pee rehearsal. No more wasting our time with work, school, boyfriends... “ She looked at Chloe to finish her sentence. “or  _ partners _ . Whatever.”

The redhead ducked her head, feeling the anger in her chest. It was never a feeling that she liked and it lay heavily on her. She thought of Beca showing her more of her music last time she went to her dorm. She had taught her how she created something from scratch and how everything worked. 

Well, until Chloe decided that the hockey player being this concentrated was actually a turn on and she grabbed her for a quick making out session until Kimmy-Jin came back home. 

“Last year we were the first all female group to get to the finals. I promise you that I’ll get us back there again.” Aubrey said. “Let’s get started.” 

Semi-Finals were in two weeks. The end of the year was sooner than it appeared to be and Chloe would quickly be graduating (if she passed all her classes) and then it would be the ICCA Finals. She was beginning to really doubt their ability to make it through the end. 

After practice, Chloe didn’t talk to Aubrey, too busy developing an idea in her mind. The blonde seemed to be okay with them not talking too because she didn’t try to engage a conversation the whole way home. She looked at the time and even though it was pretty late, she decided to leave right away without even changing out of her work out clothes. 

“Where are you going? It’s 11 PM.” Aubrey said when Chloe just put on her shoes again at the entrance. 

“Beca’s.” She shut the door behind her. 

As soon as she reached Beca’s dorm room, it opened and she almost collided with the person coming out of it. Jesse took a step back when he saw her, his eyes widening. 

"Whoa! Hey, Red.”

“Don’t call me that,” she said at the same time that Beca said “Don’t call her that.” 

He laughed like it was the funniest thing ever and the small hockey player shoved him out of the way so she could see Chloe.

“Hey. What are you doing here?” 

Chloe was going to talk but she looked at Jesse and he quickly got the message. “Jeez, fine. I hope you liked the movie today, Becaw.”

“I didn’t.”

The Treble looked at Chloe with a smile, “I bet she did.” Somehow, Chloe doubted that. Maybe it was the selfish part of her that refused to believe Jesse could read Beca like that. “Alright, I’ll leave you two alone. Have fun ladies,” he said before walking out. 

Beca opened the door more wide to let Chloe through. “So what’s up?”

Chloe looked at the laptop on her desk and took a breath.

“How do you mash-up two songs together again?”


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy 2021, folks

Chloe woke up by an alarm going off but it didn’t sound anything like her usual alarm. It was music that she didn’t recognize but the beat was soft enough to not make the shift from asleep to awake brutal. The warm body pressed against her stirred and Chloe opened her eyes to see the back of Beca’s head, her messy dark hair going in all directions. 

Chloe took a moment to take a note at how they were sleeping. She distinctly remembered falling asleep facing the wall but she had always been a cuddly sleeper so she wasn’t surprised she woke up with her arm around Beca’s middle and their legs tangled. She was pleasantly surprised to feel Beca’s arm on hers to keep it in place. 

Beca reached a blind hand to her desk and closed the alarm on her phone without moving positions. She released a long sigh and Chloe basked in the beauty of this moment. Waking up next to Beca, the sun shining through the curtains and giving the room a golden glow. She didn’t want to say anything, afraid that a sound would make it all go away. Besides, it wasn’t like the moment needed words; it was already perfect. 

They had gone to bed way later than intended last night, way too late for people that needed to wake up for a hockey practice the day after. Kimmy-Jin was gone for the night and Beca had explained exactly how she mixed two songs together for hours. Explaining how to make the rhythm sound nice together, creating baselines to match the downbeats. It was complicated and Chloe had been in awe at the fact that Beca was self-taught. 

At 2 AM, Beca had let Chloe sit in the desk chair and gave her the controls. Beca had watched her from the bed, a second pair of headphones on her head and she had let Chloe try out the program. She gave her a few tips here and then but mostly let her do the work. 

An hour later, the redhead had something that was beginning to sound like actual music and Beca had given her the biggest grin she had ever seen. Seeing the smile on Beca made her feel proud, prouder than she had ever felt. Even prouder than that time in third grade she won the spelling bee in front of the whole school. With her heart leaping out of her chest, she had attached her lips to Beca’s who accepted the kiss without question. 

They fell into bed and kissed until they were too tired to move their mouths properly. Beca had given her an oversized tee and some sweatpants that were slightly too small for the night and Chloe had gotten in the same bed as hers without them once talking about it. The redhead smirked remembering Beca’s flushed face when she took off her shirt and bra in front of her to change into her shirt.

For someone that liked talking as much as she did, the redhead quite liked the way Beca and her didn’t need to talk to understand each other. It’s like no matter what was happening, they understood each other. Both of them, always moving in the same direction.

At least, Chloe hoped they were. 

Beca’s breath steadied again and Chloe guessed she had fallen back to sleep instantly. She smiled to herself, imagining how pretty her face must look right now but she didn’t want to risk moving and waking the hockey player. She stroked her hair carefully to fix it a little and enjoyed the moment. 

Soon enough though, the alarm rang again and this time, Chloe reached over to close it for good. Beca groaned and Chloe propped herself up one arm to finally get a look at her side profile. She couldn’t resist her temptations and leaned down to kiss her jawline gently. She traced it with her lips, one kiss at a time until she reached her ear. 

“Time to wake up,” she whispered and felt Beca shiver a little when she spoke. Beca’s lips quirked up and she finally opened her eyes. 

“Careful, Red. A girl could get used to this,” she said in a husky voice. 

Chloe felt her mouth dry up at the sound of the low voice. There was nothing that Chloe wanted more than getting used to this. She smiled and patted Beca on the butt. 

“Come on, number 47. You have to be in the arena in an hour.”

“You’re so lame,” Beca breathed out in a laugh but she got up nonetheless. Chloe stayed in bed, scrolling through her phone lazily while Beca got ready. It felt nice, domestic even, to just exist in this room together. 

Beca yawned the entire time, looking pretty groggy. It wasn’t really a surprise that Beca wasn’t a morning person and like everything else she did, Chloe found it adorable. She took a picture of Beca while she was sitting on the floor, making sure she had everything she needed in her hockey bag and another one as she was just standing in the middle of the dorm on her phone. She didn’t care if it made her creepy, Beca was just so beautiful. 

She put on Beca’s hoodie, one that made Chloe’s entire world smell like coconut and she changed into her leggings from yesterday. She looked at herself in the mirror and smiled. It was a Barden Dames hoodie, with the logo of the team in the front. When she turned around, the hockey player was already looking at her with an indescribable expression. 

“Alright,” Beca said after a beat, grabbing her keys. “You wanna ride with me or take your car?”

The underlying question was “do you want to come back here after the practice or go back to your place?” and Chloe already knew the answer. 

“We can carpool.”

Beca smirked, “Yeah?”

Chloe bit her lip, knowing Beca saw right through her. She took a step towards the hockey player and hooked a finger around the hem of her pants. Beca raised a brow but let Chloe pull her closer so their hips could touch.

“Yeah, it’s good for the environment.”

Beca scoffed out a laugh. “Right. The environment.” She looked down at their bodies. “Because from what it looks like, you’re just trying to get into my pants.” 

Chloe hummed and brought her face close to Beca’s, their lips almost touching but not quite. 

“Oh, I definitely am,” the redhead said in a seductive voice. Then, she backed away with a smile and picked up Beca’s hockey bag to hand it to her. “Ready?” she asked in a sweet voice.

The brunette seemed frozen in shock for a few seconds and Chloe smiled at the effect she had on the girl. Finally Beca snapped out of it, licking her lips and nodding with forced casualness. “Yep, let’s do it.” 

Chloe wasn’t lying. She had never been the kind of person to treat sex as taboo and she had a very positive sex life. She had no problems with one night stands and she had not shied away from bringing a few guys or girls home to have fun for one night. The thing is, since developing her massive crush on Beca over 4 months ago, she had not slept with anybody, the brunette taking up all the place in her mind. 

And now that she was regularly making out with Beca, some make out sessions that ended up with one of their shirts off or both-- she was growing antsier at the thought of getting to see Beca’s body. She would wait until Beca was ready of course but she wasn’t shy on giving away hints that _she_ was ready. Chloe was definitely attracted to Beca and she was not shy about it. 

The farthest they had gone was last Wednesday when Chloe invited Beca over to do some school work. It had ended up with them both in their bras, a hickey on top of Beca’s left breast and both of their jeans unbuttoned. Unfortunately, Aubrey had come back early from her class and Chloe never got to know where it could have gone if they hadn’t been interrupted. 

She knew it was a weird thing. The fact that they never spoke about it. Maybe they should but Chloe felt as though this thing with Beca was so delicate, she didn’t want to risk shattering it. She knew she was falling for the girl. Faster than expected too. 

As she looked at the girl who was driving right now, she thought maybe she had started falling the moment she made the first eye contact with those steel blue eyes as blood dripped down from her nose. 

Chloe couldn’t help it. She felt complete with Beca around. 

The hockey player looked to her right for a quick second and smirked. 

“Why are you looking at me like that, weirdo?”

“ _I’m falling in love with you_ ” almost came out of her lips. It was right there, ready to roll out of her tongue but instead, she shook her head with a smile. 

“Just lost in thought.”

“What I would give to see what you think about in that head of yours,” Beca teased. 

“Mostly just puppies.”

Beca barked out a laugh and Chloe smiled as they pulled into the arena. It was earlier than she usually got there, given the fact that she didn’t have to put any uniform on which was the reason the Dames got there at that time. She didn’t mind, though. 

When the girls entered the locker room together, Stacie and Cynthia-Rose were already there and seemed _delighted_ to see them come in together. 

“Is this a walk of shame?” Cynthia-Rose asked and Stacie laughed. 

“Shut up,” Beca said, settling down next to them. 

“I think it is,” Stacie taunted Beca. She grabbed Chloe’s hand and made her sit down on the bench too. “Tell me everything. Is Beca a freak in the sheets?”

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Beca turn beat red and Chloe laughed. 

“This is not the walk of shame,” she explained. “Though, I’m kinda curious too,” she stage-whispered and winked at the number 47 who was pretending she didn’t hear what she had just said. “Becs, wanna enlighten us?”

“I am not participating in this conversation,” she muttered, adjusting her shoulder pads. 

Stacie narrowed her eyes like she was trying to see inside Beca’s head. “I think she’s vanilla. She looks boring.”

“Thanks, Stace.”

“I think she could be fun,” Chloe said, crossing a leg over the other. 

“I can see that too,” Cynthia-Rose joined the conversation. A few girls filtered in the locker room but they paid no attention to them. 

“I think you have to bring it out of her,” the ginger teased and Beca looked at her with an annoyed expression.

“What about you, Beale?” Stacie said. “Freak in the sheets?”

Beca cleared her throat awkwardly and focused on putting her uniform on.

Chloe smirked. “I know how to have some fun.”

“Jesus fuck--” Beca mumbled to herself.

“Atta girl,” Cynthia-Rose said and high-fived Chloe. 

“I bet you’re great in bed.”

“Stacie!” Beca said, suddenly rejoining the conversation. “That’s not the kind of thing that you usually say out loud.”

Stacie looked affronted that the hockey player would say that to her. “It’s a compliment! Are you telling me _I_ don’t look like I’m great in bed?”

“I don’t-- I don’t think about you _in bed_.”

“Stop lying, Mitchell. You wanna tap this so bad.”

Chloe laughed when Beca rolled her eyes. Fat Amy entered the room and plopped down next to Chloe. 

“What are we talking about, bitches?”

Cynthia-Rose answered, putting on her protective pads. “Beca’s sex life.” The girl in question sighed heavily, looking at the ceiling. 

“What sex life? My grandma has more action than her.”

“Gross,” Beca muttered. 

“What’s gross is the fact that you haven’t gotten laid in forever. What happened to that weird dude that’s obsessed with you?”

Chloe’s fingernails dig into her thighs but thankfully it went unnoticed. Beca side-eyed her nervously and then shrugged. “He’s not-- I’m not interested in him.” 

Stacie was still in her bra and she seemed to have no interest in putting more things on. “So are you interested in anyone? I know you must have feelings under that broody exterior.” Chloe perked up at the question and she would be lying if she said she wasn’t interested in the answer.

Cynthia-Rose jumped in. “Maybe feelings for a certain red--”

“Did you guys all make a deal to be as annoying as possible today or something?” Beca cut her off and looked Stacie up and down. “And will you please get ready? We have a practice today that’s why we’re here. Hockey. Not my love life.” 

“What love--”

“Amy! Get ready. Now!” 

Beca’s tone was final and the girls seemed to get the message, listening to the captain’s orders. Chloe observed Beca closely, the way her lips were pinched together and her jaw was clenched. She wondered why the girl had gotten so upset at the fact that her girls asked her simple questions. Was Beca ashamed of possibly having feelings for someone? Was it because that person could be Chloe? 

There was light chatter in the locker room until it was finally time to get on the ice. Beca seemed concentrated and Chloe knew she didn’t like to be interrupted when she was in that zone so she let her go. She was already on the home bench when Luke sat down next to her. He seemed amused about something.

“What?” she asked with a smile, wanting to know what was funny. He shrugged, taking a sip of his coffee. 

“Oh, nothing. It’s just-- your sweatshirt.”

She frowned, looking down at what she was wearing. She thought it was a pretty hoodie and green happened to look great on her so she wasn’t sure why it was funny. 

“It’s the Dames hoodie.”

“Oh I know,” he said mysteriously and she shoved him a little.

“Why are you laughing, you weirdo?” 

He looked at her with wide eyes and his eyebrows raised. “Christ, you’re even speaking like her now. I knew you were close but wow.”

“Who?”

“Beca. First you wear her hoodie and now you talk like her.” 

Chloe paused. He wasn’t there to see them both enter the arena together so she wasn’t sure how he could have known it was Beca’s hoodie. It could’ve been anyone’s on the team and she was pretty sure they also sold them for anyone to buy. 

“How do you know it’s hers?” 

He looked at her weirdly and pointed to her back. “Her name is on the back. They’re personalized sweatshirts.” 

She straightened up on the bench. She twisted her neck in a weird angle and managed to catch the last few letters of Mitchell on the back. “Oh.” She hadn’t even seen it when she put it on but the thought that Beca chose this hoodie for her to wear made her heart flutter. She didn’t know how to describe the way it felt to be wearing something that was so obviously Beca’s. 

“Did you not know?” he asked, slightly confused. 

“No, I--” She looked over on the ice where the girls were doing suicides. “She just handed it to me this morning and I took it.”

“Ah,” he said. “Well remember the rule, no sex in the locker room.” Her heart skipped a beat and he chuckled at her, making sure she knew he was joking. “You know, it’s a shame you’re not interested in working here. If you weren’t graduating this year, we could have taken you on the team. We could definitely use a girl like you.”

She felt a weight on her chest at the words. She was probably going to graduate this year. Leave all of this behind. The comfort of the Bellas, the people she knew around campus, the teachers, the Bellas’ house, the Dames. Beca. Next year, she’d be completely elsewhere and Beca would leave for LA. She wasn’t sure she was ready to leave this place yet. She liked how homey the Barden campus felt to her. 

She didn’t say anything and focused on the girls skating on the ice in front of her, suddenly feeling pretty anxious about the future. She wondered if there was a way to stop the time and live in this for the rest of her life. 

After the practice, Beca took a shower as Chloe made sure Stacie’s knee was okay. She fell on it pretty weird but the worst that was going to happen was a nasty bruise on top of it. She tapped her leg when she was done and Stacie pulled her pants down again. 

“You like her.”

Chloe got to her feet and her back thanked her when she finally straightened it after bending down for so long. 

“Yes,” is all she replied. You didn’t need to be a genius to know she was talking about Beca.

“She likes you too.”

“I don’t know.”

After Beca’s reaction earlier, she wasn’t sure what to believe. 

“How could you not know?”

Chloe finally looked at Stacie. “Did you see her reaction earlier?” Stacie opened her mouth and then closed it, smiling. “What?” 

Stacie shook her head, making sure no one could hear their conversation in the locker room. Everyone was still there except for Beca who was still in the shower. Somehow, the captain managed to convince them all to never take a shower at the same time as her because the dark-haired girl liked her privacy. 

“You got it so easy with the captain, you forgot she doesn’t like answering personal questions. I knew she wasn’t going to answer it. She never does.” 

Oh. 

That actually made a lot of sense. 

She knew the girl on such a deep personal level now that she forgot the only reason they got to that point was because she had to make a deal with the hockey player, forcing her to tell her things. She smiled, a weight lifting off her shoulders. 

At that moment, Beca came out of the shower room and Chloe looked at her. She was drying her hair with her towel, looking distracted but the redhead’s heart still skipped a beat. Her entire body was craving Beca and she swallowed dryly as she watched her neck with droplets of water dripping on it. She imagined sinking her teeth into the skin as her body and Beca’s formed one. She imagined Beca’s body under hers, shaking with pleasure. 

She caught Stacie’s knowing eyes and ignored her, walking to Beca. The hockey player looked surprised when she saw Chloe rushing to her. 

“Whoa. Hey.”

Chloe licked her lips, “Kimmy-Jin’s still gone, right? Wanna head back before she does?”

Beca looked at her and seemed to realize exactly what was happening inside her head because she turned serious in a matter of milliseconds. 

“Okay.”

… 

Chloe traced with her finger the bruise that Beca somehow had in the middle of her back. She had no idea how someone could even get a bruise on this part of their body but she wasn’t that surprised Beca had one. The hockey player’s body seemed to have a few bruises and scars here and there, probably from being so reckless while playing hockey. Chloe had made sure to kiss every single one that she saw. 

The hockey player sighed happily and Chloe pressed her bare chest against her back. She kissed her shoulder and her neck with wet lips and licked on her earlobe until Beca squirmed away with a soft laugh. 

“That was pretty great,” Chloe whispered and Beca turned around so they could face each other. Beca’s pupils were still slightly dilated and her face was glowing from the sweat. Chloe was pretty sure she had never looked more gorgeous than right now. 

_Just tell her._

“Yeah, it was.”

_Say it, Chloe. Say you have feelings for her and that you want to date her. You just slept together for God’s sake, that has to mean something._

“Now I can answer Stacie and Cynthia-Rose’s question.”

_You’ve never shied away from that stuff before why can’t you do it now?_

Beca laughed and pushed her away. “Shut up.” Chloe immediately came back, putting a protective arm around the girl’s waist.

“Stacie seemed to really wanna know what you were like in bed.”

It was stupid that she couldn’t bring herself to say anything. At this point, there was no doubt in mind that Chloe was in deep for the naked girl laying beside her. 

“And she will never know.”

She stayed silent for a moment, appreciating Beca’s fingers on her back that were tracing circles. Their legs were tangled and she couldn’t tell whose body parts belong to whom. It was like they formed one together. Fuck it. 

“So um… What does this all mean?” she asked, forcing herself to sound casual. Beca frowned in question and Chloe just gestured at the two of them. The hockey player seemed to get it because she tensed. 

Chloe regretted asking immediately. 

“Oh. Uh I mean I don’t know.” Beca said, avoiding eye contact. “Aren’t you graduating in like two months?”

It was three months actually but the hockey player made a good point. She was going to have to leave soon, it didn’t really make sense to start a relationship now. Her heart rate picked up again at the thought of having to leave this place. It all felt so overwhelming. The semi-finals were so soon and then the ICAAs were just a few days after graduation. Then it would all be over. 

Chloe’s nodes had been an inconvenience but they mostly ignored it by making her sing the low notes instead so it wasn’t that worst. She was pretty sure her doctor would yell at her if he found out but what he didn’t know couldn’t hurt him. Singing was her true passion and she’d do anything to keep singing. 

She wondered if there was a way she could stay in the Bellas forever. She wasn't ready to say goodbye. 

“And besides, I’m gonna move to LA probably soon.”

Right. Because Beca didn’t want to stay here. She wanted to become a music producer in LA and she was probably going to succeed because of how talented she was. 

“Yeah.” She swallowed and smiled. “I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page. We’re having fun.” Blatant lie. She wondered if Beca could tell. 

If she didn’t know Beca better, she wouldn’t have caught the sudden flash of hurt in her steel blue eyes but it had been there. Her face turned neutral again before Chloe could say anything.

“Cool.”

There was a beat of silence. The last thing Chloe needed was to fuck this up after it had all come together perfectly so she changed the subject.

“Mind if I check my phone?”

Beca moved so Chloe could roll over her easily to get out of the bed since it was still in her purse at the door. She felt Beca’s eyes on hers as she stretched a little, completely naked in the apartment. It was kind of cold, though and she looked at the ground to see what she could wear. 

The green jersey caught her eye and she didn’t have to think twice before slipping it on. The material was not the softest on her skin but when she put her hair in a bun and looked at the hockey player on the bed, it was definitely worth it. Beca was looking at her with hungry eyes, like she was currently looking at the hottest thing she had ever seen in her entire life. It felt pretty good. 

She smiled innocently at Beca and looked at her phone. Aubrey had called her over 5 times and sent her texts all about the semi-finals and how apparently the Bellas weren’t ready. Chloe wasn’t sure how they could not be ready when it was the same set than Regionals but whatever. 

“Aubrey’s freaking out, I should go.” 

Beca hadn’t snapped out of her gaze. She moved back to give Chloe space on the bed and swallowed audibly. “I’m pretty sure she can wait.”

Warmth immediately flooded the pit of her stomach and she decided that Beca had a point. She closed her phone without thinking twice about it and as soon as she fell into bed, Beca climbed on top of her. 

Aubrey could definitely wait. 


	12. Chapter 12

“Where we you?”

Chloe’s eyes widened in surprise when Aubrey practically attacked her as soon as she came in through the door. 

“Hello to you too, Bree,” she said, throwing her shoes in the closet carelessly. 

“Hello Chloe. Where were you? I’ve been trying to call you.” 

“I was at Beca’s, I told you.” Truthfully, she would have stayed even longer if she could’ve but they both knew Kimmy-Jin was coming back some time this evening and they preferred not to get caught in a compromising position again. She smiled at the thought of what had occured today.  
  


Aubrey followed her to the kitchen. “No, you told me you were going to Beca’s yesterday. I thought you’d come back after hockey practice.”

Chloe sighed, moving around the kitchen. She didn’t like the condescending tone that Aubrey had. She wondered when her real friend was going to come back and replace _the Captain of the Bellas_. She wasn’t sure if she ever would. She brushed it off quickly. Today had been a good day; she didn’t want anything ruining it. 

“We weren’t done hanging out,” she said, not even able to contain the smile on her face. “But I’m back now so what’s the problem?”

She skipped to the fridge and Aubrey observed her every move carefully. She looked for a second before pulling out a wine bottle and looking at her friend.  
  
“We should get wine drunk!”

“What? Chloe, it’s three in the afternoon.”

Chloe grinned, excited about her idea. “So what? We’re college students, isn’t that what we do?”

“I don’t know… “

Chloe took Aubrey by the shoulders, her best smile on her face. “Come on! I miss my best friend. We never hang out anymore.”

“Yeah, cause we have to focus on the Bellas and--”

“Bree,” Chloe cut her off. “I wanna hang out with Aubrey, not the captain of the Bellas. Please? No talk about Bellas just girl talk, like we used to do,” she pleaded with puppy eyes. 

“Fine. I’ll drink a little.”

After a shower that she desperately needed and an empty wine bottle later, Chloe laid down on the floor while Aubrey was leaning her back on the bed. They had been telling each other stories and laughing maniacally the whole time and the redhead was happy. She felt like things were normal again. 

She liked the way life was now, the Bellas, Aubrey, Dames. She didn’t want anything to change. The smile must have dropped from her face because Aubrey nudged her with her foot.

“What are you thinking about?” 

Chloe kept her eyes on the ceiling, her hand still around the bottle. She was a comfortable amount of drunk and it seemed like she was floating a little. 

“Do you ever think about the future?” 

“What do you mean?” 

“We’re seniors. After this, we’re just… set free into the adult world. Doesn’t that scare you?”

Aubrey hummed a little. “I guess not. I’m actually kind of excited to not have to coach the Bellas anymore.”

Chloe knit her eyebrows together. “Wait, I thought you liked being in the Bellas?”

“I do. Well I love singing and I love the girls but… to be honest everytime I go on stage, I feel like I’m gonna puke.” 

Chloe looked at Aubrey and they stared at each other before bursting into laughter again. The redhead’s body shook a little as she giggled and Aubrey slid down so she could lay down on her back next to Chloe.

After they calmed down, Chloe took a breath. “The Bellas are my family. I don’t wanna leave.”

“You’re gonna have to,” Aubrey said like it was the simplest thing in the world but it wasn’t. There were so many things she felt she could still do here and it would feel like a waste to just leave. 

She was interrupted by her phone buzzing and when she saw who it was, she immediately smiled. 

_beca :)_

i’ve been trying to come up with an excuse to text you for twenty minutes now i give up

all i have is: you left your tank top at my place and you should come get it at one point when my roommate isn’t there 

She felt the butterflies in her stomach and subtly moved so Aubrey couldn’t see her screen. 

_red_

oh i definitely need that tank top, you’re right

besides i’ll have to give you back your hoodie ;)

_beca :)_

it looks better on you than it ever could on me

ew that sounded lame

forget i said that

_red_

i won’t nice try

you’re so obsessed with me now i told you you would be

_beca :)_

i think you’re the secretly obsessed one actually

_red_

oh but that’s not a secret sweet beca ;)

  
  


“Look at you,” Aubrey said, pulling her out of the conversation with Beca.

“What?” Chloe said innocently even though she could still feel the grin on her face. 

“You like her so much it’s gross.”

Chloe giggled, moving to her side and she felt the effect of the alcohol in her body as she moved closer to the blonde. 

“Can I tell you a secret?”

“Please.”

“I’m falling in love with her.”

Aubrey sat up in half a second and steadied herself when she felt her head spinning.

“You’re what?” she said with wide eyes. 

Chloe sat up slowly and giggled when she almost fell backwards. She leaned on her hands, a smile splitting her face in half. There was no better feeling than love, Chloe thought. What other feeling could make someone feel so complete?

“I’m falling in love with her,” she repeated.

Aubrey rubbed her face and then sighed. “Chloe, I-- What do you mean you’re falling in love with her, you’re not even dating.”

Chloe shook her head vigorously. “Nope!” She paused and lay her head back down on the floor, her arms over her head. “You think she’d date me if I didn’t graduate this year?”  
  


“What? Have you guys talked about this? Does she know you’re in love with her?”

“God no. I told her we’re just having fun.”

“Having fun doing what?” 

Chloe turned her head to her side to see Aubrey looking at her with a perplexed expression. 

“Kissing.”

“Kissing?”

“Kissing.”

“When did you start kissing Beca Mitchell?”

“About three weeks ago?”

“About three weeks ago?” Aubrey repeated loudly. “Wha-- I can’t believe you didn’t tell me.”

Chloe put her hands on her stomach, feeling them go up and down as she breathed. “We’re just having fun.”

“That seems like a bad idea.”

“But it feels so good, Bree,” Chloe said dreamily. “She makes me feel so full.”

“Do you think she likes you too?”

Chloe sighed, her hands going down as she exhaled. “I don’t know? She’s so confusing. It’s like sometimes I feel like I know everything I need to about her and then out of nowhere comes this new facial expression that I can’t figure out. Also there’s that stupid Jesse that keeps circling around her.”

“We’re graduating in three month.”

"Apparently."   
  


“What do you mean ‘apparently’? It’s factual.”

Chloe shrugged, feeling an idea bubbling up in her head. Maybe graduating didn’t have to happen right away, you know? Wasn’t college the time to figure yourself out? What if she wasn’t done with figuring herself out?

“I don’t know if this girl is a good influence on you.”

Chloe rolled her eyes, side-eyeing Aubrey. “A good influence? I’m not a child, Aubrey. Jesus. Besides, Beca just likes to push your buttons, it doesn’t mean she’s a bad person. You’re exaggerating.” 

“She’s distracting you from the Bellas.”

“She’s actually been helping me with the Bellas.”

“How would she even do that?” 

Not that Beca knew or anyone else for that matter but the time Chloe asked the hockey player to tell her how to mash-up two songs, she maybe had something in the back of her mind. She had been inspired by the captain of the Dames to take more risks. 

Beca was always in control of what she did, on the ice or behind a computer screen, but she wasn’t afraid to get what she wanted. No matter what, she’d get the puck or she’d make the two songs mix. 

“She’s just helping me,” Chloe said, a hint of secrecy in her voice. 

… 

Maybe it was a bad idea. Maybe she shouldn’t do this and stick with the routine the Bellas have prepared. After all, it was a big risk. But it was probably a risk worth taking. The Bellas were old news by now, the public liked the Treblemakers because they were different and Chloe had to take the matter into her own hands.

It was a Friday night and she was standing backstage at the Semi-Finals. All the Bellas were chatting nervously but she was in her corner, saving her voice to make sure it didn’t crack on stage. She was wondering how long she could put off this surgery. Her fingers typed quickly on her phone screen while her left foot was tapping uncontrollably on the floor.

_red_

I’m nervous

_beca :)_

dude it’ll go super well

you’ll be amazing i can just see it

_red_

you’ve never even seen me on stage

_beca :)_

but i’ve heard you sing many many times and your voice is amazing, red

_red_

you’re just saying that because youve seen me sing naked one too many times

_beca :)_

definitely a plus

but you do have a great voice

if you’re nervous, just imagine i’m there

i totally would be if my dad wasnt forcing me to have a stupid dinner with him

_red_

I’m guessing you need some good luck too huh?

_beca :)_

definitely

the step monster is there too. god she sucks

_red_

booooo

_beca :)_

it’ll go great chlo

you’ll tell me how it goes tomorrow?

_red_

luke gave me the day off to relax after the competition

_beca :)_

booooo

i’ll miss you or whatever

  
  


“Bellas, you’re up in 30 seconds,” Benji said and Aubrey called them over. She looked at them in the eyes one by one. 

“Aca-huddle! Now! The top two teams go to the finals. We just have to beat one of them. If we do it exactly as we rehearsed, we’ll get there.”

Chloe looked at the Footnotes and cringed. They were good. Really good. They wouldn’t be able to win over them _and_ the Treblemakers with their routine. 

“Chloe!” Aubrey said, snapping fingers in her face. “ _Exactly_ as we rehearsed,” she repeated as if she could read inside her mind. The redhead made a ‘duh’ face with her stage smile in response. 

The Footnotes ended their set and the crowd exploded in applause. She gulped, loosening her bandana a little and took a deep breath. 

“Put your hands together for the Barden Bellas!” The animator said and she walked behind Aubrey to get to the stage. She got in position and waited for the pitch pipe. 

She did the solo that she usually had at the beginning of the song while looking at the crowd. The sound guy was on his phone, the audience looked bored. She needed to do something about it.

So as soon as Aubrey started her solo, she jumped in with what she had made Beca help her with three weeks ago; matching Bulletproof with The Sign. 

“ _This time baby, I’ll be bulletproof,_ ” she sang on top of Aubrey’s voice and the blonde looked at her with wide eyes. 

Take controlled risks, Chloe. That’s what Beca would do.

The Bellas seemed a little bit thrown off, Aubrey was shooting daggers at her but the audience had perked up and they were definitely more interested than they were 20 seconds ago. 

She sang her last “ _bulletproof_ ” at the same time that Aubrey ended her solo, telling her she did a good job matching the rhythm back at Beca’s and smiled to herself. The blonde looked at her, her entire body tensed but Chloe kept her eyes straight forward. 

“What the hell, Chloe?” Aubrey said as soon as they stepped off the stage. “Were you trying to screw us up? This isn’t the Chloe show!”

The redhead scoffed, offended that Aubrey would even think that Chloe did something _against_ the Bellas. “Are you serious? In case you hadn’t noticed everyone pretty much dozed off during our set!”

“It’s not up to you to decide what we do and when we do it. I’m the captain here. Why don’t you ask the rest of the group how they felt about your little improvisation?”

Chloe looked at the group but no one said anything. She couldn’t believe no one believed that this was the right call. This might have been the only thing that made them go to the Finals because there was no way they were beating the Footnotes without something special. She could feel the Trebles’ eyes on them as the argument went on.

“Right. I forgot I didn’t have a say in what happened in this group.”

“This is all because of Beca, isn’t it?”

“Oh my-”

“No, it is. She’s a grade A pain in my ass, her attitude sucks and you changed since you met her! And for what? She’s probably gonna just break your heart and hook up with Jesse behind your back!”

The words cut Chloe like a knife and her mouth snapped shut. She felt the tears spring to her eyes and to make matters worse, Jesse walked over to them at the mention of his name. 

“What? Aubrey, I promise we’re not--” 

“Can you stay out of this?” Chloe snapped at him. She knew it was unfair to him because he was just trying to help but now she couldn’t stop thinking of Beca hooking up with him as soon as Chloe left. All she had in mind was the time he called during a makeout session and Beca had actually stopped to answer the phone. “God, why are you always here? Just get out of my face!”

Jesse looked shocked to see the usually bubbly girl screaming in his face and he took a step back. 

“Trebles? Time to bring the pain,” Benji interrupted the conversation, completely oblivious to what had been happening. He saw the tears in Chloe’s eyes and the angry expression on Aubrey’s face and his mouth formed a little “o”. 

“You know what?” Chloe said, her voice cracking. She wasn’t sure what felt worse; the nodes that made her throat feel on fire or Aubrey’s words. “If this is what I get for trying, I’m done.” 

She tore off her scarf, throwing it on the ground dramatically and walked away. She didn’t care that she didn’t know the results yet, she had already lost enough for the evening. 

“Chloe!” she heard Benji run after her but she ignored him.

She made her way home without music or humming to herself. 

Completely empty. 

She stayed in the parking lot of the Bellas’ house for a long time, debating what to do. After 10 minutes, she decided to start the engine again and made her way to the dorms. She hoped Beca was back because she was probably sure she was the only one that could make her feel better right now.

She knocked and Kimmy-Jin opened the door with an annoyed expression, a couple of her friends on her bed. Damn it. She was too tired to get home. Her entire body felt heavy. 

“She’s not here.”

“I’ll just wait,” Chloe said, pushing Beca’s roommate out of the way gently. Still in the Bellas’ uniform, she slipped under the covers and faced the wall. She felt her heart flutter in her chest when she inhaled the coconut scent that she was so familiar with now and closed her eyes. 

“We better leave,” Kimmy-Jin said and Chloe heard the sound of a few people getting off the bed. “Redhead is even more annoying than the white girl.”

Chloe couldn’t even afford to feel hurt by the words and she just waited until she finally heard the door close to release quiet tears. She hated fighting with Aubrey and that had been their worst fight yet. She wasn’t sure they could recover from that. With Aubrey, the Bellas winning were a matter of life or death and there was nothing that she hated more than losing control of a situation. Chloe had jeopardized both. 

She felt her phone buzz and her heart sank when she saw it wasn’t from Aubrey.

“ _We came third place,_ ” the text read from one of her fellow Bellas. With that, she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

She woke up when she felt a soft hand stroking her hair. For a moment, she imagined it was Aubrey because sometimes after a fight and the blonde felt bad, she’d wake up Chloe that exact way. Except that time when she rolled over, Chloe saw Beca. It still made her feel a little better. 

Beca was sitting on the edge of the bed, still dressed in appropriate clothing for a dinner with parents and Chloe assumed she had just come back from her father’s. Chloe suddenly felt guilty about imposing in Beca’s space like that.

“Hey Red,” Beca whispered softly. Chloe rubbed her eyes a little, enjoying the caress in her hair. 

“Hey,” she said, voice hoarse from sleeping. “Sorry, I just invaded your space like this. I didn’t know where else to go and--”

“It’s fine,” Beca caught her off with a hand. “I’m pretty sure opening up your dorm room and seeing Chloe Beale in your bed would make anyone happy.”

She smiled a little at the compliment. Beca seemed pleased with herself. 

“Not that I don’t absolutely love that flight attendant uniform, Beale, because believe me, it really does it for me.” Chloe released a breathy laugh and the hockey player pulled off the covers of the bed with a smile. “But I think we should get you in some more comfy clothes.” 

Chloe nodded and shifted so she could sit with her feet on the ground. Beca bent down in front of her to unbutton her blue jacket and the redhead looked at her tenderly. 

“I can undress myself you know.”

“I’m taking care of you, Red. Accept it.” Beca said, taking off the jacket and throwing it on the ground to move on to the white blouse. “Besides, I quite like undressing you.”

Chloe scoffed with a smile on the corner of her mouth. “Perv.”

“You bring it out of me.”

After some time, both her and Beca were in sweatpants and tee shirts. Beca took off the heavy eyeliner that she had put on for the dinner and Chloe wiped away her makeup next to her. All of it was done in silence but it was comfortable. It was exactly what she needed to feel a little less empty. 

They slipped into bed and faced each other. They looked at each other as if they were trying to memorize every little detail, like they needed to remember it because they’d never see each other again. Little did Beca know, Chloe had been able to picture her face perfectly for a while now, imagining it quite often in her dreams. 

“How was dinner?” Chloe asked in a small voice. 

“It was okay,” Beca said, reaching over to put an arm around her waist. Chloe instantly got closer and hid her face in the hockey player’s neck to feel safe. Because of Beca’s small body, it was usually Chloe that was the big spoon but she desperately needed the reassurance tonight. To know that one of the most important people in her life wasn’t mad at her like Aubrey or the rest of the Bellas were. 

“That’s good,” she muttered against her neck. She felt a kiss on the top of her head. 

“You wanna talk about it?”

Chloe pulled away to be able to look into blue eyes that seemed so cold to everyone else but her. 

“Not really. Is that okay?”

Beca didn’t reply. She just leaned in to close the distance between their lips for a slow kiss. Their lips barely moved against each other but passion wasn’t what Chloe needed right now. She needed the tenderness, the gentleness that came from a kiss where you could show all the feelings you had for someone without words. They pulled away and stared at each other for a long time. Finally, Beca smiled.

“Goodnight, Chlo.”

“Goodnight, Becs.”

Beca reached over to close the lamp and the dorm room became so dark, she couldn’t even see the girl in front of her anymore. But she could feel her everywhere around her body and Chloe fell asleep with the thought that they were the only two people that existed in the world right now. 


	13. Chapter 13

The alarm woke Chloe up. Beca got out of the tight embrace to close it and Chloe immediately felt the cold. She had been so comfortable, tucked away in Beca’s body and she already missed it. 

She stretched her arms without opening her eyes and the hockey player seemed to notice she was awake because Chloe felt a hand caress her cheek. 

“Go back to sleep. I’ll see you after practice, okay?” 

Chloe tried to open her eyes but the light was bright in the room and she was still so tired. The only time she hated being so in tune with her emotions was when something bad happened. It felt like her entire self was sick, like her body was punishing her for feeling negative emotions. Someone like Chloe Beale wasn’t supposed to be angry or sad, she was supposed to exude happiness; that’s what she wanted. 

She turned to face the wall, hoping it would dim the light a little. She was half asleep as Beca shuffled around the room as quietly as possible and finally she felt a kiss in her hair and she heard the door close. She avoided thinking of how domestic this all felt and fell back into a slumber. 

She woke up an hour later. She stared at the ceiling of Beca’s dorm room but all she could picture was the way Aubrey had looked at her and the harsh words that had come out of her mouth. She had seen Aubrey angry many times, but it was never as angry and it was especially never directed at her. She really felt as though she had just lost her best friend. 

She sighed and sat up in the bed. There was no use trying to go back to sleep and she was only going to torture herself thinking of what happened over and over again. She grabbed one of Beca’s jackets and slipped it on before walking out the door with only her phone and earphones in her pocket. She probably looked like a mess with her face free of make up and her hair in a messy bun but she didn’t care. 

The walk to the arena was about 30 minutes and it wasn’t too cold outside so it felt nice to be able to breathe fresh air. She was listening to a playlist that Beca had made her with all of her mash-ups and she tried to focus on that instead of Aubrey the entire walk to the arena. When she got in the parking lot, she saw Jessica and Ashley getting in the same car. 

She checked the time, technically there was still half an hour left to the practice. She bumped into Lilly that was walking out. 

“Hey, practice is already over?” 

She only heard the words “Coach” and “appointment” so she put two and two together and nodded. She still went in because Beca’s car was still in the parking lot so that meant she was still there. She walked to the locker room, smiling at Emily politely in the hallway. 

There was only Stacie, Fat Amy and Cynthia-Rose left, which were the three that always lingered in the locker room the longest after practice, never in a hurry to get anywhere. 

“Nurse Beale!” Cynthia-Rose said, surprised to see her. 

“Short stack said you weren’t going to come today. What are you doing here?”

Since Beca wasn’t there, she assumed she was in the shower. She pointed to the door leading to the shower room.

“Forgot something in there.”

Stacie barked out a laugh. “You forgot something in there,” she repeated.

Chloe let herself smile a little and pressed her back on the door. “I did. Silly me right?” She pushed the door open with her back and entered the room.

“Think she forgot an orgasm in there,” she heard Amy say before the door closed and then loud laughter. 

Beca was singing a song that she didn’t recognize and instantly, Chloe felt better at the sound. The hockey player really was an incredible singer and Chloe had to find a way to make her sing more often. She followed the voice to the same stall that Beca always used and over the sound of the singing and the shower, Beca didn’t hear her stripping. 

When she was totally naked, she opened the curtains making Beca’s voice turn into a squeak of surprise and she nearly slipped on the floor but Chloe caught her by the arms. 

“Dude!” Beca said in a shaky voice. “You have _got_ to stop doing this.” 

Chloe smiled at her apologetically and closed the curtains. When she turned around, Beca was looking at her with an eyebrow raised. 

“Don’t look at me like that,” Chloe scoffed. “I was just sad and needed something to occupy my mind with so I thought I’d come watch you play. Not my fault practice ended early.”

“So you just joined me in the shower,” Beca said but still moved so Chloe could get some of the water on her. 

“Well duh. Look at how cute your butt is,” she said and squeezed it. The hockey player squirmed away with a laugh and the noise sounded like a melody to Chloe’s ears. 

“Weirdo,” Beca said and then her face softened. Somehow, the redhead knew what she was going to ask before she even said the words. She spoke up before Beca could. 

“Not now, okay? No talking just-- showering.”

Beca nodded and pulled their bodies closer. Without thinking, Chloe leaned down to kiss her and the hockey player kissed her back firmly. After a few seconds, Beca pulled away to whisper against her lips. 

“Want me to wash your hair?”

“God, yes.” 

It started out a very tender shower but the feeling of Beca’s fingers massaging her scalp couldn’t help but make her moan and well-- things escalated fast after that. No one could really blame Chloe for wanting to touch all of Beca when she was right there naked next to her and hot water was falling on top of them. Long story short, they broke the one rule that Chloe had been told since day 1 but not one part of her felt guilty over it. 

When they got out of the shower, Chloe was already feeling better. It was incredible how this moody girl had the power to make her feel happier and she was pretty sure she was one of the few lucky people on Earth that could say that.

“Fun shower?” Fat Amy asked when they got out. 

“So are we allowed to have sex in the locker room again?” Stacie added like they _knew_ even though Chloe had made sure to put her hand on Beca’s mouth the whole time so nobody would hear. 

“Bite me,” Beca answered, quickly grabbing her stuff and walking out with Chloe closely behind her. The redhead snickered thinking that the hockey player left this fast because she didn’t want her teammates to see the mark that Chloe made on her neck. 

It was a bad idea, she thought as they were driving back to Beca’s dorm. It was a bad idea because she was in love with the girl but Beca wasn’t thinking these thoughts at all. As far as she knew, they were “just having fun” until they both had to leave at the end of the year. Chloe didn’t even want to think about the fact that having fun seemed to mean doing anything that a couple did but without the label. 

She didn’t want to pressure Beca with all these overwhelming feelings because the hockey player was already bad at dealing with emotions so Chloe didn’t want to add hers on top of that. She only had a couple months left before they both left. Chloe to her adult life and Beca to LA. It felt weird to think neither of them were going to be at Barden next year. It felt… wrong.

She didn’t even have the Bellas anymore because they hadn’t made it to Finals. It felt weird to think that now the only thing she had to look forward to was graduation. She didn’t have the strength to do so. She was falling behind on a couple of her classes, mainly Maps and Russian Literature but these classes were _so_ boring. Who could blame her? She didn’t even know if she wanted to pass that much. 

What if she could get a second chance at the Bellas?

She listened to Beca as the girl talked about how the practice went and observed the twinkle in her eyes as she explained what kinda shenanigans Fat Amy got into that day. Sometimes, she didn’t understand why the girl wanted to leave Barden already when she seemed to enjoy her hockey team so much. Beca could do so much more if she actually gave college a chance. She could even join the Bellas-- hell, she could be the _captain_ of the Bellas too.

With Beca’s help, she was sure they could make the Bellas so much better. If only Aubrey would listen to her.

“Chlo,” Beca suddenly said and Chloe realized she hadn’t really been listening to what the hockey player was telling her. 

“Sorry, I was just-- lost in thought.”

Beca sat down next to her, their backs leaning on the wall. She didn’t say anything, though. She just waited for Chloe to talk. The redhead looked at her lap and played with her fingers.

“I think I lost Aubrey,” she said in a quiet voice. 

“How come?”

“I…” she trailed off. What if the whole mash-up idea had actually been a bad idea and it was the reason why they got the third place? Maybe Aubrey was right to be mad at her. She felt her eyes sting as they filled with tears. 

Beca immediately pulled her closer, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “Hey, you’re okay. Tell me what happened yesterday.”

Chloe took a breath. “Well, you know how I told you we always do the same routine at any competitions?” Beca nodded. “At Regionals, I noticed that what we were doing wasn’t enough but Aubrey wouldn’t even listen to me so I thought I’d take care of things myself.”

Beca looked at her confused and then it seemed to click in her mind. She looked over at her laptop on the desk where they had spent hours working in the middle of the night over a month ago.

“Bulletproof,” she said in a smile that Chloe didn’t see. 

“Yeah,” Chloe nooded shyly, eyes still on her lap. “I started singing the arrangement I made because you said it fit right, you know? And I thought it would help because the judges seemed to like it more but…” She gave herself some time to collect herself before continuing. “But Aubrey hated it and accused me of sabotaging the Bellas and it seemed like she was right because we got third place. It was stupid.”

“Stupid?” She put a finger under Chloe’s chin to make her look at her. “Red, that’s fucking badass.”

Chloe paused. “What?”

“Dude, you were right. The mash-up did sound great and I bet it sounded even better with your voice. Man, I wish I could have seen that.”

“So you don’t think it’s what doomed us?”

Beca shook her head. “No way. If what you said is true and that you guys always do the same set while people like the Trebles change it up every time, of course the audience got bored of you. I would have done the same thing as you.” 

She thought of Aubrey saying she changed since she met Beca. Perhaps she did, but it certainly was not for the worst. Actually, she liked who she was more since she met the hockey player

“Really?”

“Fuck yeah, dude.” She shifted slightly so her body could face the redhead and took her hand. “Look, I’m really sorry about the Bellas. I know you wanted to make it to the Finals. But you did what you had to do and I’m proud of you. You and Aubrey are best friends. I bet you guys will get over this.”

“I don’t know. She seemed so mad at me for screwing our chances at the Finals.”

“You’re not the one that screwed the Bellas up. She is. She should’ve listened to you more because that’s what a captain does. I know what I’m talking about, okay? If you guys wanted to win, you needed to work together as a team.”

Chloe nodded sadly. “It just sucks.”

“I know,” Beca said and she squeezed her hand. “Maybe you’ll finally listen to me and finally get your surgery now, though. Give your voice a chance.” 

The senior took a deep breath. Beca had a point. She didn’t have the obligation to sing anymore and it really was getting worse. She took painkillers before every rehearsal and competition but at this point, it didn’t even help. She nodded, a tear slipping out of her eye and rolling on her cheek. 

Beca immediately kissed it away. 

… 

It was weird. Living in a house with someone that you didn’t talk to. She obviously couldn’t stay in Beca’s tiny dorm room forever so after hanging out there for as long as possible after hockey practice, she eventually had to come home. 

It had been two weeks of avoiding each other, coming out the room after they heard one of them close a door and silence reigned in the house. Chloe hated it. Usually you could always hear the TV or the radio playing and if it wasn’t that, then it was because one of them was singing. It was a happy house, one that Chloe always felt full in. 

Beca had only come over a few times since the semi-finals because she preferred not to think of what happened if Aubrey and Beca were to cross paths. So they only saw each other when Kimmy-Jin wasn’t there which wasn’t that often. Chloe would like to say she used the time to study for her finals but she didn’t. She laid in bed, scrolling for hours on her phone or she’d hang out with Cynthia-Rose or Stacie because she did get along well with them. 

Her surgery was this Saturday, right after Beca’s final game of the season. She couldn’t believe how fast this assignment had gone by and how it was already over. Graduation was in a little over a month and the ICCA for the Bellas should have been just a few days after but unfortunately that plan had been ruined. 

It was a simple procedure but it still very much scared her. She didn’t like hospitals too much, it was such a sad place and she hated the atmosphere. It reminded her of when her dad got sick when she was young and it wasn’t a fun memory for her. It had taught her a lot about always showing how much you loved someone before it was too late. 

On the day of the surgery, she ran into Aubrey in the hallway. She swallowed with difficulty and decided to be the bigger person because she missed her best friend terribly. 

“I’m going to the hospital after the game.”

Immediately, the blonde looked worried and Chloe knew that even if they were in a fight right now, Aubrey still cared for her. That reassured her. 

“Are you okay?”

She nodded. “It’s for my nodes. The surgery is today.”

Aubrey looked at her a long time before nodding. She didn’t make a move to hug her or anything, they just stared at each other across the hall. “I hope it goes well.”

“Thank you.” 

She turned around and she was about to go downstairs when she heard her name. Aubrey was looking at the floor and spoke quietly but Chloe still heard it. 

“Good luck to the Dames as well.” 

Chloe smiled with the corner of her mouth and nodded before leaving the house. Her stress for the surgery was mixed with the excitement that she had for the game. She was going to miss going to the arena so much, it had almost become some kind of second home to her during this time. She had a gut feeling they were going to win today, they had to. 

She walked into the locker room and saw Beca listening to music in the corner like always. Except, like the hockey player could feel her presence, she opened one eye to make eye contact with Chloe when she walked in. She smiled at her and Chloe smiled back. 

She knew that moment of focus was important for Beca, though, so she joined Jessica and Ashley’s conversation until Gail came in the room, gave a little speech and then it was time for Beca to talk. 

Beca looked a little emotional over the fact that this was their last game. She looked at every single one of them before starting to talk. “Alright. This is it, girls. We made it to the end of the season and it was an _incredible_ one. You guys know I’m not one to be sentimental and I’m not going to be but I just wanted to thank you guys before it’s too late because I’m never going to forget these moments.” The reference about leaving flew over everyone’s head but Chloe’s. She knew no one knew about her plan to move to LA except her. This really was Beca’s last game with them. “I love you awesome nerds. Let’s go win this last game!”

They all cheered happily and steel blue eyes met ocean blue eyes, there was a hint of sadness in them and Chloe wondered if there was a way to convince her to maybe stay after all. To make her see she could continue playing with the Dames if she didn’t leave right away. 

She caught Beca after Luke and Gail had left and gave her a firm kiss on the mouth. Beca smiled into it and caressed her cheek softly. It all felt so natural. 

“Make good choices,” Chloe whispered after they pulled away. 

Beca smirked. “You know me,” she said before walking out. 

The number 47 was on fire today. Chloe could see she was determined to make the best out of her last game with the Dames. So far, it was 2-2 with Beca scoring one goal and one assist. Somehow, Chloe’s eyes always followed Beca on the ice and she loved the way the girl moved on her skates. She couldn’t believe the hockey player was going to throw all that talent away so soon. 

During second and third period, Chloe caught Beca in the locker room. 

“Have you ever thought about not leaving?” she said, her hand around Beca’s bicep.

“What?” the hockey player said breathless. 

“Don’t you love this feeling? This doesn’t have to be your last game. Look at these girls.” Beca’s eyes roamed around the room where all the players were. “They love you. They need you.”

The hockey player’s face was red from exhaustion and she was breathing loudly. She seemed to think about the words for a little but then her face went blank. “I’m going to LA, Chloe.”

The redhead heard the anger behind the words and decided to let go. Besides, she had planted the seed, maybe it could harvest later. “Okay,” she said and leaned forward to kiss her cold cheek. A few of the players saw it and whooped loudly. 

“Lesbihonest!” Amy said and Beca turned to glare at her. 

Right at the beginning of third period, Beca collided with a player twice her size, sending her to the board with force. Everyone in the crowd shouted loudly as Chloe’s heart skipped a beat. The number 47 had smacked head first into the glass and then she fell backward. Beca was good, really good at hockey but she was also pretty tiny and the girl in the opposite team must have been 6 foot something so the collision had been harsh on her. 

It wasn’t long that she was sent to the penalty box and Lilly helped Beca skate to the home bench where Chloe could see a nose bleed. Despite how nervous she felt, she smiled. It was almost fitting that the girl would get a nose bleed today.

Beca saw her smile through her helmet and seemed to realize something because she licked her lips and then instantly regretted it when she realized she had just licked a lot of blood. The redhead chuckled when Beca cringed.

She followed Beca to the locker room, inspecting the _MITCHELL_ on her back and the number 47. She was having a crazy deja vu feeling but at the same time, some much had changed that it didn’t quite feel the exact same.

Over 6 months ago, Chloe had seen one of the most beautiful girls she had ever seen take off her helmet in front of her to deal with a bloody nose. Today, Chloe was seeing the girl she was in love with take off her helmet to deal with a bloody nose. 

It seemed like it was happening in slow motion as Beca took off her helmet, revealing her low ponytail and turning around so Chloe could see her face that seemed to be glowing from the sweat. 

“Hand me a tissue, will you?” Beca said and Chloe took a step forward instead. She put one hand on Beca’s shoulder and she wiped the blood herself. Beca looked at her with warm blue eyes and Chloe couldn’t believe this was the last time she’d ever see the hockey player in her uniform. 

She was a sucker for Beca in all kinds of outfits, or even naked, but there was something about the girl in her hockey uniform that made Chloe’s stomach flip.

The whole holding-the-tissue-for-her didn’t work so well though so Beca took over after a while and Chloe sat next to her. She remembered feeling so awkward about the silence months ago and now she basked in it, feeling it fill her heart. 

She looked at her and Beca turned to her. She still remembered the standoffish attitude and how much it had intrigued her. Now, she was probably the person that knew Beca the most and Chloe was more than okay with that responsibility. 

“Well? You’re gonna tell me something about yourself?”

Beca scoffed, “We’re still doing this?”

“Totes.”

Beca wiped her nose a few times and seemed relieved to see it had stopped running. 

“I don’t even know what you don’t know.”

“Come on, there has to be something I don’t know yet.”

“I don’t think so, Red. I think you’ve hit the limit. You don’t need to hang out with me anymore.”

Like that was gonna happen.

She put on her best puppy eyes. “Please? Think of something.”

Beca thought about it for a second and her face relaxed when she thought of something. She looked at Chloe straight in the eyes with an intensity she had rarely seen on the brunette before. “I’m gonna go out there and I’m going to win this game for you.”

Chloe opened her mouth but she had no idea what to say. Beca smiled and surged forward to kiss her hard. Before Chloe could even kiss back, the girl was back on her feet (well, skates) and walked out of the room to get back on the ice. 

She made her way back thinking she didn’t get the chance to say a fact about herself back to Beca. Maybe it was a good thing because she was pretty sure she wouldn’t have been able to stop herself from saying the fact that she truly wanted to say. 

_I’m in love with someone. I’m in love with you actually._

Beca jumped over the board, her skates landing on the ice skillfully and instantly she dove for the puck. Chloe watched her with avid eyes as she stole the puck from the opposite player and then slid it from right to left a few times. A player came towards her and she twirled on her skates, passing it to Stacie. Stacie brought them closer to the opposite goal, passed it at the last second to Beca who’s hockey stick was already in the air and hit it hard when it came at her. 

The puck hit the back of the net as the air horn blew and the crowd cheered happily. Chloe couldn’t even cheer along, all she felt was her heart leaping out of her chest. Beca was far away, too far for her to see where she was looking but she swore she could feel the steel blue eyes on her. 

She wondered if there was a chance Beca felt as strongly as she did for her. But then she remembered that even if she did, they were going to part ways too soon and maybe it was better they left some things unsaid. So they didn’t have to feel the heaviness of the separation as strongly. They were having fun, it _was_ fun and Chloe didn’t want to play around with that. As long as she could keep kissing Beca, she’d be happy. 

An almost was better than a goodbye that happened too soon. 

Right?

Then, she’d be left an adult and she’ll have other shit to figure out than a reckless hockey player that got hurt way too often for her own good. Even if she loved taking care of that hockey player more than anything.

Fat Amy organized a party in the courtyard for tonight and that was when Chloe remembered she had surgery in two hours. Even though it was a short surgery, she wasn’t going to have enough energy to go partying. She felt a pang of sadness at that, knowing that she wouldn’t ever be with all these girls again. These girls had made her feel like home in this locker room and she’d appreciate it forever. She couldn’t help it, she took a few pictures of the girls all celebrating and hugging so she could remember this moment forever. 

“You did really good,” Luke said, suddenly appearing besides her. 

A smile split her face in half. “Thanks, Luke.”

“If you ever find your way back to Barden, you can always come back here.” He extended a hand but she had never been the kind to shake hands so she threw her arms around him and he chuckled a little, hugging her back. “Here, that’s my evaluation on your academic performance this season. Give that to your teacher and if she doesn’t give you an A, come talk to me.”

She smiled, accepting the piece of paper and tucked it in her back pocket. On that little piece of paper, explained a few months in Chloe Beale’s life, never explaining how deeply meaningful it had been. It didn’t explain how she met girls that she’d consider friends for a long time. It didn’t explain how she met Beca, the girl who stole her heart as fast as she could steal a puck from someone. 

It was just an evaluation but between these lines, Chloe’s life had changed. 

She made eye contact with Beca across the room and the latter gestured at her to meet her outside. She slipped out of the room unnoticed because everyone was talking loudly and saw Beca still in uniform leaning on one of the brick walls of the arena. 

“Hey,” she said to catch her attention and the brunette straightened up. “Good job today, Becs. You were amazing.”

“Thanks, Red,” Beca said, a hint of a blush on her cheeks because of the praise. Some things never changed. “I’m glad you’re getting the surgery.”

Chloe nodded, slightly nervous. “Thanks. I’m pretty scared.”

“I can come with you if you--”

“Hey no,” Chloe said, shaking her head. “Today’s the last time you’ll hang out with these girls like that. You need to focus on them, don’t think about me.”

Something flashed in Beca’s eyes but Chloe couldn’t quite read it. She wondered what she was thinking about right now. If she was thinking the same things Chloe was. That maybe, leaving Barden this year wasn’t the best idea. That Beca saying she wanted to win this game for _her_ meant something and the fact that she _did_ win it meant even more.

“Get drunk,” the redhead continued. “Have fun. You deserve it. But text me from time to time, okay? And don’t kiss anyone,” she added at the last second suddenly insecure about the possibility of Beca kissing someone else. She knew she technically had no right to control what the hockey player did but she definitely did not want her to kiss someone that wasn’t her. 

Beca grimaced in response to the last thing she said and the ginger controlled the smile on her face to not let it get too big. “I wish you could be there.” Chloe grinned at the shy expression on Beca’s face and the latter rolled her eyes. “Dude, don’t make it weird.”

Chloe threw her hands in the air, “I didn’t say anything.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“I knew you’d become obsessed.”

“You’re so weird.”

“Thanks,” she said before looking at the time. “Alright, I should leave. Tell everyone goodbye for me, okay? Tell them I love them and this wasn’t the last time I’d see them.”

Beca nodded and then cleared her throat awkwardly. She looked to her left and right before standing on her tiptoes to kiss Chloe tenderly. The redhead hummed, taking Beca’s lower lip between her lips. No matter how many times it happened, it still made her heart flutter when their lips touched. It just felt so right. She pulled away before they started something they couldn’t finish and Beca stroked Chloe’s cheek with her thumbs. 

“It’s gonna go super well. Text me as soon as you can.”

“Okay, thank you.” The _I love you_ was on the tip of her tongue so before it slipped out, she quickly kissed the brunette one last time before walking away. 

Before getting in her car, she looked at Beca one last time and was pleased to see her looking at Chloe already. The hockey player put two fingers on her forehead and saluted in a dorky way and Chloe chuckled to herself, wondering if she was the only one that knew about this side of Beca. The side of her that always had an easy smile on her face and that could actually _giggle_. The thought warmed her heart. 

Suddenly, she didn’t feel so sure whether an _almost_ was really going to make this all more easy. 

Maybe it’d make it way harder.


	14. Chapter 14

“... and last thing and this is very important,“ the nurse finished her long rant of things to do to make sure Chloe’s vocal chords healed properly. “No talking for 3 to 7 days depending on how sore you feel. Though, you did wait an awfully long time to come here so I’d go with the full 7. Talking includes whispering, humming, anything really.”

As if Chloe Beale could wait 7 days to talk. 

She nodded to the nurse who finally let her alone for a moment. The doctor said the surgery had gone well and had prescribed her a couple of painkillers just in case but Chloe already felt brand new. She took out her phone and nearly dropped it when she saw the text from one of her fellow Bellas. 

_ “Chloe! The Footnotes got disqualified! We’re moving to the Finals!!!” _

It took everything in her not to squeal out of joy again. She settled on tapping the little table over her bed in excitement. The Bellas were back. Her life finally had purpose again. The redhead already started thinking about what they needed to do to make sure they were ready for the competition that was in only a month. Screw her exams that were coming up around the same time, she had more important things to do. 

She checked her other notifications, happy to see that Aubrey had texted in the Bellas group chat and that she was still in it. 

_ Aubrey _

Emergency Bellas ASAP. I’ll contact you guys when I find a time 

This time, she was determined to make changes. They weren’t going to win Finals with their original setlist and she had a plan to make it all better. 

_ beca :) _

not-so patiently waiting for your text here

_ red _

hi :)

guess what :)

_ beca :) _

what?

_ red _

the footnotes got disqualified which means /we/ got qualified for the finals

_ beca :) _

no way!! thats awesome

happy for you chlo 

_ red _

i know!! im so happy i could scream but i cant

_ beca :) _

so the surgery went well?

_ red  _

everything is aca-awesome again

beca :)

yikes

how many days do you have to stay quiet?

_ red _

the nurse said 3 to 7 :(

_ beca :) _

as if you can keep quiet for that long

_ red _

that’s what i told myself!

beca :) 

i have an idea for something we could do that doesnt involve talking

_ red _

oooh sounds sexual i’m in

_ beca :) _

i didnt mean it like that perv

an actual activity out of the bedroom

_ red _

boring then

can we go back to the bedroom idea?

beca :)

shut up

shit gotta go stace is calling me over

take care of yourself red

  
  


She smiled to herself, putting her phone over her heart. She wondered what Beca had in store for them and she also wondered when they were going to get a time back alone in a bedroom for real. 

The doctors finally discharged her and she was surprised to see Aubrey at the entrance. The surprise must have shown on her face because the blonde quickly explained herself. 

“I took a taxi here because I figured you’d be too tired to drive back. I wanted to help.” Chloe took a step towards her friend that she missed so dearly in these past couple of weeks. “I wanted to help.”

Chloe couldn’t stop herself anymore. She threw herself in Aubrey’s arms and hugged her tightly. The blonde did the same to her and Chloe felt a weight lifted off her shoulders. She couldn’t believe how good this day had been. They hugged for a long time, probably worrying the people around them and making them think something horrible had happened but Chloe was just so happy to have her friend back. 

“I’ve just been so stressed out and now that we’re back in the competition, I just want my best friend back,” Aubrey muttered in her hair and Chloe squeezed tighter in response. She felt the same way. 

The redhead was thankful that Aubrey came because she was in fact pretty tired. She was about to fall asleep when the blonde lowered the music of the car and cleared her throat. 

“I know you can’t talk right now but I will. I just wanted to apologize for blowing up at you. But like my dad always said, if you’re not here to win get the hell out of Kuwait and I just freaked out. Posens don’t lose usually, you know?” Chloe looked over at her and put a hand on her shoulder. 

There were so many things she wanted to say. She wanted to apologize for not warning Aubrey and jeopardizing their place. She wanted to say that the past was in the past because now they could finally concentrate on the ICCA the way they should have been from the start. 

She squeezed her shoulder and Aubrey seemed to get the message so that was enough for now. 

The painkillers made her pretty sleepy so she passed out as soon as she got in her bed. Then Aubrey woke her up for dinner, they ate in front of a movie and then she passed out once again. 

She woke up the next morning pretty late and she was glad to see that even if her throat was a little sore, she felt refreshed. She took her phone and her eyes widened when she saw how many texts she had from Beca. So glad to have her best friend back, she completely forgot the Dames were out there celebrating.

_ beca :) _

chloooooo

iwish you were hre

life is so much cooooler when yourew hrere

cause you smell so pretty

i like kissing you so mcujh did you know

youre suc a good kisser

i like sleeping wiyh u 

sex or no sex

:D

Then she had a lovely selfie that Beca took of herself where she was pouting at the camera and she had an arm around her neck that seemed to belong to Stacie from the half-face that she could see on the screen. Chloe laughed quietly to herself, her heart fluttering at the thought of drunk Beca thinking about her. It was also pretty nice to have the confirmation that Beca liked kissing her and sleeping with her which is something that sober her would have never admitted. 

_ red _

you are just the cutest little thing arent you

i like kissing you and sleeping with you too becs ;) sex or no sex

She expected for the answer to come later so she moved to get out of bed but her phone buzzed instantly.

  
  


_ beca :) _

oh god

i’m never talking to you again this is so embarrassing 

_ red _

stop it it was cute

_ beca :) _

i hate drunk me

i also hate drunk me for drinking so much christ my head is killing me

_ red _

take some painkillers!

_ beca :) _

too early for exclamation points beale

_ red _

wow

someone’s dramatic

_ beca :) _

let me wallow in peace

i’m still trying to get over the embarrassment that i sent you that selfie

_ red _

i think you look absolutely adorable

beca :)

that's part of the problem 

  
  


She spent the whole day in bed watching TV shows and texting Beca. They were both feeling too tired to do anything else so it was a good coincidence and it gave them the chance to talk all day about everything and nothing. Even from her dorm room, Beca had the power to make her smile instantly. 

They made plans to do Beca’s activity that she planned the next day and Aubrey arranged a meeting with the Bellas this Tuesday. The realization that her Tuesdays and Saturdays suddenly became free without the Dames’ practices made her pretty sad but she was glad she’d have the Bellas to focus on again. 

So the next day, Beca came to pick her up after class was done for both of them. Aubrey was in the house and stared at them from the window making Beca wave obnoxiously at her. Things were better with Aubrey but she knew the blonde was still pissed about losing the semi finals and still blamed Chloe and Beca for it. 

It wasn’t fair that Beca was being blamed for this when the girl didn’t even know what she was planning to do when they made the mash up but Aubrey would find any reason to blame Beca. She was still convinced Chloe would have never done that if Beca hadn’t been there.

Which was, in a way, true. Beca gave Chloe more courage and made her want to try new things. She was discovering things that had been hidden in her all along but it was like the hockey player was helping her shed those things to light, to make her be the best Chloe she could be. 

When Chloe went to sit down on the passenger seat, she saw a notepad with a pen on top of the seat. She picked it up to sit down and Beca looked at her silently as she read what was written at the top of the page. 

_ Chloe Beale’s aid for when she really really needs to talk but she can’t _

She looked at the hockey player amused and Beca rubbed the back of her neck. “Just thought it would come in handy if you need to tell me something. I’m kinda nervous about having to hold the conversation on my own,” she joked and Chloe smiled. 

She took the pen and wrote down her first words. 

_ Looking forward to learning more about you today :) _

Beca chuckled and put the car in drive. Chloe put the radio on and they listened to music as they went on a route that was very familiar to the redhead. She wanted to say something but she couldn’t so she just looked at Beca in question but the girl simply smiled, keeping her mouth shut. 

It was when they Beca parked in the parking lot of the arena that she finally stopped the games. She put her arm around Chloe’s seat in a very attractive way and seemed pretty pleased with herself. 

“So I talked to Gail who talked to the guy who owns the place and he managed to find a time where nobody was using the ice and it wouldn’t be a problem if I were here. So, you and I are going ice skating.”

Chloe’s heart leaped in her chest and a smile split her face in half. She couldn’t believe Beca would do that for her. 

“I got my skates in the trunk and I also contacted Aubrey to find out your shoe size and I rented some for you,” Beca continued. 

Knowing Beca, texting Aubrey must have been hell for her so she couldn’t believe she’d even go through all that trouble for that. The urge to kiss the hockey player was so strong but before she could, Beca got out of the car, seemingly really happy about what they were gonna do. She threw her hockey bag over her shoulder and waited for Chloe to walk to her. 

“I hope you know how to skate,” Beca said while opening the door for Chloe. “Because that might be a dealbreaker on our friendship, Red.”

She knew how to skate but she hadn’t done it in a few years. She nodded to Beca to show that she did and thought about how if she fell, Beca would probably catch her anyways. When they entered the lobby, there was a man sitting in the office that got up when she saw them. Beca immediately walked up to him and shook his hand. 

“Mr B, I just wanted to thank you again. This means a lot to me.”

He seemed like a nice man, with a round belly and a big beard and he kinda reminded the ginger of Santa Claus. He smiled at Beca and accepted the handshake. 

“No problem, Mitchell. You’re one of the best players that ever skated on this ice anyways,” the man spoke in a thick canadian accent that made Chloe smile. 

Chloe could see Beca’s flushed face from here. “Well thank you, sir. Here, this is Chloe,” the hockey player said, taking Chloe’s hand to drag her closer and then put her hand on the small of her back. “That’s who I wanted to do this for.”

“Well it’s very nice to meet you, Chloe.”

“She can’t talk because of a surgery she had,” Beca explained quickly when all the redhead could do was smile. The man looked at both of them and then nodded. 

“Oh well, alright then. I hope you two have a lovely date. Try to be careful, eh?”

The word seemed to have an impact on both of them; Beca removed her hand from the small of her back like it had been on fire and Chloe’s heart skipped a beat. He didn’t seem to notice what he said got a reaction out of them and went back to his office to leave them alone. 

Beca suddenly seemed nervous and Chloe bit on her lower lip anxiously. He could have meant it as a friend date for all that’s worth but things were… particular between Chloe and Beca. You couldn’t really be mad at him for thinking it was a date when it had all the exact components of a date. After all, they did everything that a couple do; they kissed, had sex, slept in the same bed, hung out doing activities that could be considered dates. 

But they weren’t dating. 

They were having fun.

Whatever the hell that meant. 

The feeling of knowing they could be something that meant so much more was bubbling in Chloe’s stomach and she just hoped it wouldn’t explode before graduation. It was better to just enjoy things right now and deal with the hurt later when Beca’s in LA. She’ll be able to handle it. She was a very physical person that could probably not do a long distance relationship and anyways, she didn’t even know if Beca wanted to date her in the first place so it was stupid to think about.

She followed the hockey player to the unlocked locker room and it was silent, obviously, but she knew it wasn’t quiet just because Chloe couldn’t talk. It was more uncomfortable than usual. 

The whole thing was worse because Chloe couldn’t even talk to make things less weird so she awkwardly grabbed the notepad and wrote something down quickly. Beca took out two pairs of skate and two hockey jerseys that had her name on the back.

_ I’m really excited :) _ , Chloe wrote. Simple, but effective because the hockey player immediately seemed to relax. 

“Here,” Beca said, handing her a MITCHELL jersey. Chloe looked at it with interrogation points in her eyes. Not that she wasn’t excited about wearing the jersey because it seemed to always have a very positive affect on Beca when it was the first thing that Chloe put on after sex. “I just thought you wouldn’t dress knowing we were coming here and you’d be cold,” the brunette explained as if it was not a big deal. 

But Chloe knew it  _ was  _ because it meant Beca had thought all this through and it really warmed her heart. She was only wearing a long sleeved tee and she would’ve been cold and the fact that Beca anticipated it and brought something for her just made Chloe want to kiss her a million times. 

“You’re cute,” she mouthed with a smile and Beca rolled her eyes and bent down to put on her skates. 

She put on the hockey jersey and caught Beca’s side glance that she tried to cover up with her hair. She smiled and took the white ice skating skates that the girl had rented for her. While they both got ready in silence, Chloe thought the only person she’d be able to spend an entire day with not having to talk would be Beca. It was different with her. It always was.

She looked at the dark hair cascading over her shoulders, in contrast with the green jersey and she took her notepad, wanting to say something. 

_ You know, I think you should give me this jersey so I can remember you when you’re in LA _

Beca read it and looked up at Chloe like she was expecting the girl to burst into laughter. 

“Wait, you’re serious?”

The redhead nodded and a light blush appeared on the hockey player’s face. 

“Oh. Sure, dude.” She seemed so shy about the fact that Chloe wanted to remember her and it was kind of adorable. “But I’ll need something back, you know? So I can remember you too and stuff.”

She quickly grabbed the notepad.  _ I think I have some Harry Potter DVDs I could lend you. _

Beca read it and then shoved the notepad in Chloe’s stomach with a laugh. They had tried to watch the third movie one time in Beca’s dorm but since they never managed to finish the second one, Beca had no idea what was happening and they just ended up making out again.

Even though they were alone, songs were playing in the ice rink speaker and it felt so weird walking up there without anyone else on the ice. It suddenly felt so big just the two of them alone. Beca got on the ice first and skated backwards to watch Chloe get on it with a smile on her face.

Chloe put a tentative skate on the ice and when she felt it slid, she held tightly to the board. 

“Come on, Red.” Beca said, twirling skillfully to taunt the redhead.

She finally put her second skate on the ice and gave herself a few seconds to regain her balance. She took a few steps and was pleased to see it all came back to her pretty fast. Beca skated to her and held her arm out like a gentleman for Chloe to take. 

The redhead looped their arms together, her other hand holding the notepad tightly. In the middle of the first circle around the rink, Chloe almost slipped but just like she predicted; Beca had caught her immediately.

“Not ready for hockey yet, huh?” Beca joked and Chloe rolled her eyes at her. When they were in front of the home bench, she made them stop so she could write something.

_ How did you get into hockey? _

Beca read it and then gestured at Chloe so they could keep skating. They both looked kind of dorky, wearing the exact same jersey, skating next to each other but Chloe couldn’t afford to care. She also thought it was really cute. 

They were both silent for another ring around the rink until the hockey player talked. 

“Well as you know, I started hockey when I was seven,” Beca started, staring straight ahead. “I saw flyers at school and I thought why not, you know? It looked pretty fun. So I asked my dad and he took me to this ice rink that the park people would make in the park close to my house or whatever. As soon as I put on the skates, I felt something spark up in me. Then it only got more intense when I took the hockey stick in my hands.”

Chloe was looking at her, almost slipping a few times but Beca kept her eyes forward, her hands moving to stabilize the redhead every time. 

“We played for hours that day. I loved it. It’s like… I was never good with the whole “emotions” stuff, you know? But when I play, that shit doesn't exist. It’s just me and the puck at the end of my stick. And I like that. I liked that I didn’t have to worry about my parents’ marital problems for a few hours and it’s the same thing with different problems today. Hockey gives me an out.”

She finally looked at Chloe and the redhead mouthed the word “Music?” hoping Beca would understand. Thankfully, she did because she nodded.

“Yeah, it’s the same thing with music. It’s like-- hockey gives me a way to deal with my feelings and music gives me the words I don’t have?” she said, ending the sentence as a question like she wasn’t sure what she was saying was making sense. 

It did.

She was aware that not everyone was as vocal as she was about their problems but she was glad that helped Beca deal with all of it. She liked that Beca was a person of passion who had big dreams and worked hard for it. Chloe admired that a lot in the brunette. 

She had never been so sure about what she wanted to do. She knew she liked animals and that’s why she picked Animal Studies when she started college and then the years had passed by and suddenly she was at the end of the major. 

She didn’t even know if she wanted to be a vet; she basically switched from vet to exotic dancer to teacher every week. The future was just scary for Chloe and she didn’t like the idea that the comfort of Barden would slip between her fingers soon. 

They did a couple more loops around the ice without talking. After a while, Beca seemed to think Chloe wasn’t fast enough for her because she pulled away to skate a little around her. She would gain speed and then slow down, make circles around her and skate backwards facing her all while Chloe looked at her with sparkling blue eyes. She could watch Beca do the things she loved for hours; whether it was skating or making mash-ups. 

Chloe had fallen asleep on Beca’s bed once to the sound of her making a mash-up and to this day, she swore it was the best nap she ever had. 

Chloe’s mind drifted to the Bellas and how she was going to convince Aubrey to make changes for the better. Her plan involved Beca and she needed to get her on board too but she was pretty sure it’d be easier to convince her than Aubrey. With Beca, she could do her puppy eyes and maybe a couple of kisses and with the blonde, she couldn’t really do that. But if Beca had managed to convince Aubrey to text her her shoe size, maybe it wouldn’t be  _ that  _ hard. 

Chloe gestured with her finger for Beca to come closer and she did. Chloe wrapped her arms around Beca’s neck to steady herself and she leaned forward to bring her lips close to the girl’s ear. 

“I had an idea,” she whispered very delicately in her ear. It hurt a bit but it wasn’t too bad and when Beca froze at the sound, Chloe knew she had to get it out before the hockey player forced her to stop talking. “Your mash-ups could make the Bellas win Finals. With your help, we could create something that no one has ever seen before.”

She pulled away and Beca looked hesitant, like she wasn’t sure it was such a good idea. Chloe knew it was risky and Aubrey would probably flip out if she knew she asked her this but she really did believe in her idea.

“Just think about it,” she mouthed and then because she hadn’t done it in what felt like forever, she attached her lips to Beca’s for a tender kiss. The brunette kissed back immediately, like she too had been dying to have Chloe’s lips on hers again. The redhead was pretty sure she’d never get used to how incredible it felt to kiss the girl she loved.

When they pulled away, Chloe smiled and then started skating again with Beca following closely behind her.

They skated until Chloe’s feet hurt and when they got back in the locker room, Beca let her keep the jersey. It was weird to think the girl would never need that jersey again. She cursed herself for not being able to talk because it was something that she wanted to bring up again; how leaving to LA wasn’t Beca’s only option. 

Beca drove her home and when she pulled into the Bellas’ driveway, Chloe forced her into an awkward hug across the console that told Beca just how much today had meant to her. She had had so much fun just hanging out with her and she was glad they got a chance to skate together until they both moved away. 

She pulled out her notepad to write one last thing. 

_ I love you. _

She heard Beca’s breath hitch when she read it and suddenly it seemed harder to swallow through her dry throat. In slow motion, the hockey player took the notepad and wrote something at an angle that Chloe couldn’t see. She tore up the page and folded it before handing it to the redhead. Chloe took it with a smile and quickly kissed the corner of her mouth before getting out of the car.

It was only when she was all settled in bed that she unfolded the page that Beca tore up. 

_ I love you too. _

She folded it back again and brought the note to her heart. 

Unbeknownst to Chloe, Beca was thinking the same thing that she was in her dorm room staring hard at her ceiling. 

_ “I wonder if she knows how much I do.” _


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter is the last one! hope you guys are ready :)

She spent the whole day tapping her foot anxiously on the floor, waiting for the day to be over so she could get to Bellas rehearsal. Her voice felt way better already and the three days mark had passed which meant Chloe was ready to talk again; she was practically dying here from being silent for that long. She just hoped the surgery wouldn’t have messed up her vocal chords so much. 

Her Russian Literature teacher was explaining things that would probably be in the final exam but she couldn’t bring herself to listen. Who cared about school when the Bellas were back in the competition? What she was planning was completely different than what they used to do and they were going to have work to get ready in time for the Final competition in a month. 

Finally, her day was done and she made her way to the auditorium, practically skipping. Aubrey seemed pretty excited too but Chloe could see she had her game face on which meant Captain Posen was back. They were on their way to the auditorium when she felt her phone buzz in her back pocket.

_ beca :) _

what time is rehearsal?

She squealed, happily texting the time and location to Beca. Everything was going according to plan, the only left to do would be to convince Aubrey. She knew her fellow Bellas would be into it because she noticed they seemed unsure about their usual routine too so it would be easy to get them on board. 

One by one, the Bellas filtered in the auditorium and when they were all there, Aubrey started the rehearsal. 

“The aca-gods have looked down on us and given us a second chance,” she said and a few people cheered. Aubrey cut them off, “Let’s get to working.”

Chloe stepped in. It was time to introduce her idea to the group. 

“I texted Beca.”

“You did what?” Aubrey said immediately. Chloe could see a hint of confusion and anger in her eyes. 

“She’s gonna make us better.” She looked at everyone in the group and took a breath. “We can’t win with the set we have right now. We’re good, yes but we’re not good enough. They’re bored of us out there and we need to bring something different. Beca makes music, she’s really good at it and I know that with her help, we’ll actually have a chance to win.”

Aubrey looked bored, like she didn’t even want to give Chloe’s idea a chance. “That’s not an opinion for you to have, Chloe.”

“Why? Because it’s different than yours? You’re not always right, you know. “

It was silent for a moment while the two seniors looked at each other, trying to see who would look away first. 

“Uh.. so what now?” one of the Bellas chirped in.

“We win without the hockey player,” Aubrey snapped and turned away from Chloe to gather the music sheets. 

They managed to last an hour of absolutely horrendous singing and dancing before Aubrey snapped. 

“What is happening to us? Chloe, you sound like you smoke three packs a day. You’re all behind on the choreography. And you two, it’s like you haven’t even been around all year!” she said and the two Bellas she was pointing at ducked their heads in embarrassment.

Chloe crossed her arms, an exhausted look on her face. “You know what is happening to us. We need Beca.”

“Beca doesn’t know anything about the Bellas! She’s not even one!”

“Exactly!” Chloe shouted, throwing her arms in the air. “That’s what we need! Someone that doesn’t care about upholding stupid traditions that are going to make us lose!”

“Shut it, Chloe!” Aubrey said and a few Bellas looked at each other, afraid of what was happening. The blonde seemed to notice their reactions because she took a breath to appear calm but the redhead knew she was bubbling inside. “I’m sorry. That was rude. Chloe, could you please get your head out of your ass? It’s not a hat. “

“Are you kidding me?” Chloe said angrily, “You’re the one that is leading us to failure.”

“Oh, so it’s  _ my  _ fault? Well that’s what you’re all thinking, right? I’m the jerk. The girl obsessed with winning!” Aubrey put her hand on her mouth with wide eyes and Chloe stood back, flashbacks of her freshman year of college coming back quickly. 

She soldiered on though. ”You’re too controlling, Aubrey! It’s ruining us!”

“Hey, I can lose control if I want to! I can let go! This time I’m not going to choke it down! “

“We could have been champions!” Chloe yelled, completely blinded by her anger and lunged forward to grab the pitch pipe. Aubrey’s eyes widened slightly but she didn’t have time to move before they were both on the floor, the pitch pipe flying in the air. 

Every Bella was just looking at them, frozen in their place as Chloe and Aubrey wrestled to keep the other on the ground so they could grab the pitch pipe.

“What the fuck is going on in here?” an outsider’s voice called out and the two seniors turned their heads to look at Beca with her laptop under her arm, looking frightened. 

They both got to their feet quickly and Chloe tucked a strand of hair between her hair shyly, slightly embarrassed that Beca had seen her in that position. 

“Nothing,” Aubrey said, crossing her arms. “This is a Bellas only rehearsal.” 

The hockey player seemed unsure and took a step back. “Um.. I know but… Red uh--”

Chloe walked up to her and took her hand to drag her in the middle of the auditorium. She held her head up high. 

“She’s staying.”

“Dude,” Beca whispered to her uncomfortably. “You didn’t tell her about this?” 

Chloe waved a hand in the air nonchalantly.

Aubrey’s face hardened. “Let me explain this to you because you still don’t seem to understand. Our goal is to win the finals. These songs will make us win. So excuse me if I don’t take advice from some alt girl with her Mad Lib beats when she’s never even been in a competition. Have I made myself clear?“

“Crystal,” Beca said and she made a move to leave but Chloe grabbed her arm. 

“Aubrey,” Chloe said, gathering all the confidence she had. “I see the potential we all have and we’re limiting ourselves by doing the same three songs. Look, let Beca show you what she can do. Then you can decide.”

The blonde clenched her jaw but she didn’t say anything so Chloe signaled to the girl that she could go ahead. Beca looked nervous and cleared her throat. 

“Um okay, well…“ She looked around the room and gestured at the Bellas sprawled around the auditorium to come closer. Beca was born a leader and the redhead believed in her 100%. She knew if anyone could help them, it was Beca. “We’re gonna remix this shit. Aubrey, pick a song.”

“Bruno Mars. Just the way you are,” she said instantly and Chloe saw the slight raise in Beca’s eyebrow but she didn’t say anything. 

“Um, okay yeah I can do that,” the hockey player said and then closed her eyes, trying to remember how the song went. Then, she opened her eyes and started singing the opening notes of the song. 

Quickly, the Bellas followed suit, continuing the beat and then Beca pointed at Chloe when it was time to start singing. 

She started to sing the lyrics to the song, keeping her eyes straight on the girl conducting. She couldn’t help but feel how accurate this song seemed to be as she looked at the girl she loved. After a couple of verses, Beca joined in with  _ Just a Dream _ by Nelly where the lyrics also hit a little bit too close to home. Steel blue eyes stayed on her for as long as she could, like she was trying to tell Chloe something. After a moment, she looked away to signal to Aubrey to take over. 

Aubrey instantly got the hang of it and continued the song, her voice matching with Chloe’s rendition of  _ Just the way you are _ perfectly. They sounded good, better than they ever have and it was all because of something Beca thought of in less than a minute. 

The last note was sung by Aubrey with a perfect harmony from the rest of the Bellas and Chloe looked at all of them with the biggest smile she ever had. She knew they had it in them, they just needed to try something else. 

Even the blonde couldn’t keep the smile off her face and Beca looked pretty proud of herself. 

“Girls, I think that was enough for today,” Aubrey said, surprising everyone. “We’ll meet 4 times a week to prepare for the Finals. I hope you guys are ready.”

No one dared to complain. They were all so excited about what was to come, anyway. They all finally felt so inspired about what was to come.

“And Beca, you can come too,” Aubrey added, trying to sound casual. Chloe made eye contact with the girl who looked surprised, a smile at the corner of her mouth.

Chloe went to her bag to gather everything up and Beca joined her, looking a bit awkward since she didn’t know anyone in the team except her. 

“So that was something,” Beca said, looking around the room.

“I was pleasantly surprised that Aubrey caved in this easily.”

“Yeah, I think we showed her something good.”

“ _ You _ showed her something good,” Chloe said. Beca was way too humble for her own good. “I’m really glad you came.”

Beca seemed sincere when she said “Me too.”

“I’m excited to hang out with you 4 times a week,” she teased, poking the girl’s nose. Beca scrunched her face in an adorable way in response.

“We already hang out 4 times a week. I can’t get rid of you, Red.”

“Oh, hush. You love me.”

Beca’s face softened and looked deeply into her eyes. There was a beat of silence where they looked at each other, all their unsaid feelings floating around them.

She wondered what would really happen if Chloe were to tell her how she felt. Would it change something about the way they acted? Would Beca freak out like when they kissed the first time? Would it just end in heartbreak for Chloe? 

She had never been good at keeping her feelings hidden and the fact that she had been holding it all in for so long was slowly killing her. It was beginning to be really hard to kiss Beca like she did and not tell her everything she felt; how in love with her she was. 

“Beca, can I talk to you a minute?” Aubrey called out, interrupting the moment. 

They talked at the piano and Chloe couldn’t hear what they were saying but none of them looked too annoyed at the other so the redhead called it progress. She stayed on the side, telling every Bella goodbye warmly until finally Beca walked away. 

“I can see your toner through those jeans!” Aubrey said to her back and Beca turned around to walk backwards. 

“That’s my dick,” she replied instantly. She walked up to the ginger and put a hand on Chloe’s bicep. “Listen, I gotta go but we’ll see each other soon, right?”

Chloe nodded, feeling happy that it all worked up perfectly in the end, no matter how rocky it all started. She hugged Beca tightly, feeling the blonde’s eyes on them but she paid her no mind. She’d rather focus on the small body that fit so well against her, the fresh scent of coconut that melted her heart. 

“What was that about?” Chloe said to Aubrey when Beca left.

“I just apologized to her for the way I acted and explained how things were gonna go down. I told her I’d try to give her a chance but you know what my dad says; if at first you don’t succeed, pack your bags.”

“Oh sweetie,” Chloe said, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. 

… 

Practicing with the Bellas with Beca was even better. The group all seemed way more excited about working towards something that involved them all. Aubrey, Chloe and Beca spent hours at the house figuring out the music and the choreography and it was so easy to spend all that time with them. They still annoyed each other from time to time and the redhead was the one in the middle who had to calm them down but most of the time, it was delightful. 

She found that having her best friend and the girl she was in love with in the house quite often made her really happy. Since they worked pretty late every night to plan the entire set in under a month, Beca ended up sleeping over quite often. 

She never slept once in a bed that wasn’t Chloe’s. 

Aubrey never said anything but the ginger could tell she was against it. Not because it was Beca but because after all this time, they still hadn’t talked about the elephant in the room; the obvious feelings they had for each other. 

Chloe wanted to throw it all in the open but everytime she hinted at the future, Beca shut it down. She had even tried to bring up Beca’s passion for hockey again, joking about how she wouldn’t be able to play it as much because of the hot temperature in LA and the brunette had just pulled an uncomfortable expression, without saying anything. 

So the redhead would stop herself from telling Beca everything she felt for her and enjoyed the feeling of Beca’s lips on her body and the laughs they’d share in the dark, trying not to wake up Aubrey. Most of the time, she managed to forget that in just a few weeks, the feeling of Beca would just be a memory. 

They worked really hard but at least, they could see that all that effort was worth it. The Bellas got better with every rehearsal, the new sound fitting them perfectly and the choreography finally challenging them more. It felt natural to see the hockey player up there with the Bellas, helping them find a certain note from time to time. Sometimes, she’d catch her mimic the choreography in the back and Chloe would chase her around the auditorium and make her do the dance with them. 

Every rehearsal, the auditorium was filled with singing and dancing like usual but this time, it was mixed with laughs and smiles and it filled Chloe’s heart every time. All her favorite things combined in the same place made her the most happy she’d ever been and she relished in it. She lived and breathed the Bellas at this point, focusing all her time on working with these girls that made her feel so at home. 

If she wasn’t thinking about the Bellas, she was thinking about Beca. Beca’s hands on her, her lips on hers, the way her heart felt like it was going to come out of her chest with the amount of love she had for her. Chloe was complete with Beca around and she didn’t want to think about the Beca-shaped hole she’d have once they parted ways. 

So she should have seen it coming really. She should have. 

“Hey Chloe, can I talk to you?” she heard from behind her as she walked on campus. She turned around to see her Russian Lit teacher.

“Yeah?” she asked, slightly worried about the nervous expression he had on his face. 

“Listen, I know this class is not your favorite and that you only took it because you had credits to fill which is why it pains me to do that. Please understand that I did everything I could so it could not come to this.”

“What’s going on?”

“Chloe, I have no other choice but to fail you.”

“Oh.”

“You know what that means right?” he asked and when Chloe shook her head, he grew even more uncomfortable. “You can’t graduate. You needed this class to get your diploma and with the grade you had on your final exam, it won’t be possible.”

Oh.

She wasn’t graduating. She was staying here at Barden. 

“Okay,” she said after a beat. 

He seemed to be taken back by her lack of reaction. “Are you… going to be okay?”

She nodded.

“Uh right well… I’m here if you need to talk, okay?”

“Okay,” she repeated.

It was weird, she thought. She had been telling herself that she didn’t want to move on for so long but never once thought about purposely failing her classes to not graduate. Her subconscious probably made her do it while she focused all her attention on the Bellas and Beca.

She felt sad about the fact that she wasn’t going to graduate along with her best friend but she probably didn’t feel as sad as she should be about the idea of being a super senior. She almost felt relieved. Relieved that she didn’t have to be on her own just yet, that she would still have the comfort of Barden around her. 

She had more time to figure what she wanted to do with her future. She kind of felt like she could breathe again. 

She entered the Bellas’ household with a pensive expression on her face. Aubrey was on the couch and immediately caught that something had happened. 

“Hey, are you okay?”

Chloe walked to the couch and sat down, her entire body still. Aubrey waited for her to talk and then the redhead cleared her throat. 

“I’m uh-- I’m not graduating.”

Aubrey froze next to her. “What?” she asked after a moment of silence. Chloe looked at her and it was a weird feeling. It almost felt like none of this was real and that she’d wake up soon but it very much was real. 

“My Russian Lit teacher just told me. I failed the class so I can’t get my diploma.”

“Holy shit,” Aubrey said and put her hand on Chloe’s lap for comfort. “Are you okay?”

Chloe took a moment to think about it. She thought about what it really meant to not graduate and honestly? She couldn’t find that many things wrong with it. 

“Yeah,” she said and then nodded more confidently. “Yeah I am. I mean, I’ve been feeling so stressed out about the future so it gives me more time to think about it, right? I love being here and I love being a Bella. That’s what matters to me right now and I’m okay with that.”

Aubrey looked at her for a few moments. Chloe knew how important graduating was to her and she was scared for a second the blonde was going to be mad at her for whatever reason. Instead, Aubrey took her in her arms and Chloe wrapped her arms tightly around her best friend and even though she wasn’t sad, she definitely needed the comfort right now. 

“I’m glad you’re okay,” Aubrey muttered in her hair. “I’m sad we’re not going to be graduating together but I’m glad you’re okay.”

She closed her eyes and breathed in the scent of her friend. They stayed that way for a while, just hugging until they heard the front door open and close. They turned around to see Beca looking at them curiously.

“Uh… is everything okay here?”

The hockey player went to the house so much that after a while she had just stopped knocking. Chloe couldn’t explain how good it felt to be cooking something in the kitchen and to just have Beca walk in the room like they lived together. 

Aubrey kissed her temple and got up. “I’m gonna leave you two alone,” she said and Chloe rolled her eyes. The blonde kept saying she felt like a third wheel when she was with them but it wasn’t like they did it on purpose. 

Beca looked worried and Chloe shook her head with a smile to tell her nothing bad happened. Well technically, it was bad but Chloe wasn’t taking it too hard. The hockey player sat where Aubrey sat seconds ago and cringed. 

“God, she has a warm butt.”

Chloe chuckled and took Beca’s hand, intertwining their fingers easily. 

“So you know how I’m graduating in a week?”

Anyone else wouldn’t have noticed anything but Chloe had spent what felt like hours studying Beca’s face so she immediately caught on to the jaw clench and how her body froze when Chloe spoke. Interesting.

“Yeah?”

“Well I’m not.”

Chloe swore she heard Beca’s heart stop for a second. 

“Wait, what?”

“I’m not graduating. My Russian Lit just told me I failed his class.”

“Holy fuck Chlo, I’m so sorry,” Beca said, moving closer to the redhead. Chloe observed her carefully as Beca’s hand moved to her back and her other hand squeezed Chloe’s. All of that because she knew her love language was physical touch and because she wanted to be there for her when Chloe was sad. 

She thought of the Beca she met months ago that didn’t even know how to hug someone in a way that wasn’t awkward and how now Beca didn’t even think twice about touching her. The thought brought tears to her eyes and the hockey player instantly freaked out. 

“Hey no, don't cry. It’s not a big deal, okay? It’s not.”

Chloe shook her head, releasing a teary laugh. “No, I’m okay. I’m okay, I swear. I’m just--” She looked at the brunette in front of her and felt warm in her stomach. “I just love you. Thank you.”

Beca reacted visibly to the fact that it was the first time she told her she loved her out loud. Even though she probably didn’t think Chloe meant it the way she did, it still meant a lot to her to say it. Getting over the shock fairly quickly for someone like Beca, she smiled and leaned forward to kiss the redhead’s forehead. 

“I love you too,” her lips murmured against the skin.

Chloe closed her eyes and blindly reached to grab a hold of Beca’s waist. The words echoed in her mind, each time filling her up a little bit more. All she could do was hold on to Beca like a lifeline and hope nothing would tip over in their last two weeks together. 

Because if everything were to spill over again, Beca would be thousands of miles too far to clean it up with Chloe. 


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wtf this is the last chapter!! Just wanted to quickly thank you guys for the comments I've received about this fic, each one of them made me unbelievably happy so thank you so much. I hope you liked it and that you enjoy this last chapter! I'm gonna start posting another multi-chapter fic I wrote with my friend very soon so stay tuned for that!

The morning after getting told she wasn’t graduating, she woke up with Beca in her arms. Not that she was surprised, it was kind of an unspoken thing that happened where Beca would spend the most time possible here since they both had a handful of days left together. 

When Aubrey brought up the fact that the hockey player was always here, Beca had made a comment about how Kimmy-Jin was even more rude than usual and that anyway, she liked the water pressure of Chloe’s shower better.

“ _ Yeah you like Chloe in your shower better _ ,” Aubrey had muttered which made Beca’s face get redder than Chloe’s hair. 

So waking up to Beca was beginning to be the norm now but it felt extra special to have her after receiving the news that she’d stay at Barden. She felt relieved, sure but she also needed to grieve the fact that she wasn’t going to be graduating along with the rest of the year and just Beca’s presence comforted her. 

When she opened her eyes, she was surprised to see Beca already awake, staring at the ceiling and completely lost in thought. Usually, the redhead was the one that woke up first; she’d take a moment to look at the woman in her arms. She never stared for that long though because it was like Becacould feel her through her subconscious and she’d wake up soon after. 

But this time, she was awake. Chloe’s arm was around the girl, her hand inside her shirt and she tapped a finger on the soft skin to catch her attention. 

Beca turned her head to the left and smiled when she saw Chloe look at her. “Hey, good morning,” she whispered.

“You okay?” 

Beca moved to her side and lifted a hand to stroke red fiery hair. “Yeah. I was just thinking about stuff.”

“Care to enlighten me?”

“Just… the future.”

Chloe hummed, her fingernails lightly scratching the small of Beca’s back.

“Scary,” is all she said and Beca chuckled a little. 

“Yeah, it is.” 

“I’m not as sad as I should be about graduating,” she said even though that wasn’t really what they were talking about.

Beca hummed. “Well that’s good. It gives you more time to figure out what you wanna do, right?”

“I could be a teacher.”

“You’d made an excellent teacher.”

“I could also be a vet.”

“You’d make an excellent vet.”

Chloe chuckled and tickled Beca lightly. “Are you just going to agree with me no matter what I say?”

“What can I say, Red? You’d be good in everything you put your mind to.”

“Thanks, Becs.” 

“No matter what you do, you’ll change lives.”

The way Beca looked at her, with such intensity, with so much passion, made Chloe’s stomach churn. She loved this girl so much and a part of her was afraid Beca would never truly know how much.

“I’m really glad that I met you,” Chloe whispered as the birds were chirping outside. 

“Me too,” the hockey player answered honestly. “I’m going to miss you so much.”

“So don’t miss me,” Chloe pleaded instantly. “Don’t leave. You don’t have to.”

Beca closed her eyes, her hand stopping the caress in her hair. “Chlo, don’t do this.”

“I just think--”

“You’re making it harder than it needs to be.”

She sat up on the bed and Chloe instantly felt the warmth leaving her body. 

“I’m not. I’m just asking you to think about it.”

“I have.”

“Have you? You have so much here. The Dames, me and--”

“Chloe!” Beca snapped, immediately shutting up Chloe. She instantly regretted it when the redhead’s face fell. “Fuck, I’m sorry. I’m-- this is just a lot, okay? I can’t keep having this conversation with you.”

Chloe nodded. She understood how scary it could be, she just wished Beca would listen to her. She gently took Beca’s hand and tugged on it to make her lay down again. There was so much conflict behind those stormy blue eyes and it hurt Chloe’s heart. 

“It’s okay,” she murmured before capturing her lips. 

The girl immediately kissed back, her hands moving to pull their hips closer. The kiss was slow, full of emotions and that’s the same way they undressed each other and then touched the other. It wasn’t done in a rush, they took their time with it, making sure they would always remember what it felt like to do this. They kissed as much as possible, their bodies moving in a rhythm together. 

Chloe couldn’t help but feel as though it was the beginning of the end. 

Even though she was touching Beca, she could feel her pulling away from her. All their unsaid feelings slipping between their fingers and the only person underneath trying to recover them was Chloe.

They stared at each other for the longest time afterwards but they didn’t say a single word. She figured the way they looked at each other said enough. 

When Beca left to go to her last exam, Aubrey caught Chloe staring out of the window and wrapped her arms around her. 

“She’s in love with you too, you know.”

“I know.”

It didn’t matter. Beca didn’t want to stay. 

… 

Aubrey started packing and the house got a little more empty with each passing day, similar to the way Chloe felt. She comforted herself by telling herself that at least next year, the Bellas would be able to move in the house with her. It was weird to think she’d be a Bella without her best friend and she wondered how’d she be able to lead the team alone. 

Along with Beca, Aubrey and Chloe had been able to pull off something incredible and now that they were at their last rehearsal before the final competition, they could feel the buzzing in the air. 

Everyone knew the choreo, everyone knew their parts but they still rehearsed over and over again until Aubrey couldn’t notice a single flaw. It was their last shot at redemption and Aubrey wanted to make sure she ended her senior year on a great note. 

Seeing Aubrey graduate had been emotional. All the Bellas had been at the ceremony to congratulate her and it felt weird to not be on the stage next to her but she also felt thankful for it. She wasn’t ready to go up there and if her best friend was, then she was going to be happy for her.

Since the ICCAs were so close, Chloe and Beca were concentrating all their time on the Bellas and not as much on them. Not that things weren’t okay, it’s just that it felt like Beca did everything to not let things get romantic in any way. They had barely kissed since the last time they slept together. 

Chloe knew the hockey player enough to know she was pulling away because she was hurting and that she was going to miss Chloe. It didn’t make it any less okay, though and she just wished they’d have a conversation about it once and for all. Chloe still remembered the way Beca had avoided her after they kissed for the first time and she wished her solution wasn’t to always run away. 

Beca was taping her finger on the piano to the rhythm of  _ Don’t You Forget About Me _ , watching them all dance and Chloe could see the hint of envy in her eyes. It was obvious Beca didn’t think acappella was lame anymore and most of the time, it looked like all she wanted to jump up there and join them. 

Aubrey gave them a break after a while and Chloe took a gulp of her water bottle before joining the hockey player. 

“Jealous, huh?”

“What?” Beca said, pretending to read the music sheets. 

“I can see it in your eyes,” Chloe teased. “You wanna be a Bella.”

“Is that right,” Beca mumbled and the redhead forced her to look at her.

“Yeah. I know you, Beca. More than you think I do.”

Beca’s jaw clenched. “Yeah well, whatever.”

“You could join next year.”

The hockey player sighed deeply, annoyance flashing in her eyes. “Not this again,” she said through gritted teeth and started to walk away. Chloe immediately went after her. 

“I don’t know why you’re so against having a conversation about this.”

“I don’t know why you keep trying to have a conversation about this.”

“Because I think you’re making a mistake.”

“Dude, let it go!” Beca’s voice echoed in the auditorium and at this point, the Bellas’ chatter had subdued so they could listen to what was happening. 

“Not until you look me in the eyes and tell me you have 0 doubt about leaving Barden. That going to LA right now even though you could keep playing for the Dames, join the Bellas, stay with me, is what you want.”

“Why? I’ve told you a dozen times I’m leaving.”

“No, all you do is shut me down every time I try to have a mature conversation about this.”

“This is bullshit.”

“You told me yourself that you’re nervous about the future! Why are you so afraid to admit that you don’t want to leave?” she shouted. 

Beca looked at her straight in the eyes. “It’s not because  _ you’re _ too much of a pussy to leave Barden that I have to stay too, you know.”

The words cut deep and for a moment, she felt like the wind got knocked out of her. Aubrey looked worried, standing on the side. Every Bella was looking elsewhere, pretending they couldn’t hear the two girls arguing in the middle of the room.

“You don’t get to do this,” Chloe said, her mouth completely dry. 

Beca seemed exasperated. “Do what?”

“Be mean to me just cause you don't know how to deal with your feelings and all you do is run away. At least, I’m honest with myself.”

“What are you even talking about?”

Chloe put her hands on her hips, jaw clenched. “You know what I’m talking about.”

Beca looked at her for a long time, her blue eyes had turned completely cold, not a hint of warmness in them anymore. Then she looked away.

“I don’t owe you anything.”

“Bullshit, Beca. Yes, you do. You’re a coward.”

“ _ I’m _ a coward? You didn’t graduate last week cause you’re too scared to leave!”

“Yeah,” Chloe said, nodding. She took a few steps towards Beca. “Because that’s what I wanted. I wanted to stay here. Unlike you, I’m not afraid to admit what I want.”

“Oh yeah? And what is it that you want?” 

Chloe could have shouted it from the rooftops. She had imagined herself saying it a hundred times. In the locker room at arena Kennedy, in Beca’s dorm room while they were doing a mash-up, in Chloe’s bedroom with Beca’s fingers on her but never did she imagine saying it with angry tears on the verge of coming out of her eyes. 

She lowered her voice to keep it steady but it still came out shaky. “I’m in love with you, Beca.”

A couple of gasps were heard in the auditorium and Beca’s mouth snapped shut. Chloe wasn’t done talking, though, suddenly feeling like she needed to say more.

“Who are we even trying to fool? I’m in love with you and you  _ know  _ it. You know it but you’re too much of a coward to admit it. Everyone knows it because I don’t try to hide it. I’m not ashamed of being in love with you. But you’re closing your eyes on all of it on purpose! You think you’re not going to regret all of this once you’re in LA and you left everything you loved behind?”

Beca took an angry step towards her. “I was fine before you came into my life, you know? I had a plan. I would stay here for a year and leave. It’s all fucked up now.”

“Well excuse me for making you realize you have feelings. You have so many things to accomplish here and all I did was try to help you see that for yourself.”

“I don’t want your help. You’re not my girlfriend!” Beca shouted and the auditorium fell into a heavy silence. 

Yeah, she had made that pretty clear.

“Fine,” Chloe said after a moment and took a few steps backwards. “Leave, Beca. You can pretend to yourself all you want but I’ll know that deep down, without this?” she pointed to the Bellas but she meant all of it; herself, the hockey team, everything that Beca loved. “You’ll feel empty.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I do. Because I’ll feel the exact same way.”

If Beca was her soulmate, she knew she was hers too. She knew she made Beca feel more full. Without each other, a part of them would get hidden again. 

Beca looked at Chloe and the door back and forth. After a few seconds, she released an angry sigh and walked right past the redhead to storm out the auditorium. Chloe didn’t turn around to look at her leave, she just heard the footsteps, the door open and then close.

Nobody spoke and silence went back to the way it felt before Beca. The absence of love. Emptiness. 

… 

  
  


Backstage of the Lincoln Center. Chloe was looking at the Bedfellows perform their set with her heart beating harder than usual. They were good but she was convinced the Bellas were better. They hadn’t worked this hard just for this to fail at the last step. 

She tried to look at the audience but she could only see a fraction of it. She wondered if Beca was there like she promised she would be. Probably not. They hadn’t talked since the fight in the auditorium and Chloe wasn’t even sure she processed it all. She refused to believe that this was the last time she ever saw the hockey player. The thought of Beca being gone forever hurt too much to focus on it. 

Chloe looked at Jesse with the Trebles. He was a bit on the side of his group and Chloe noticed the same broken-hearted look that she probably sported on her face. For the first time ever, she realized they maybe had more in common than she thought. He looked at her and gave her a shrug with a sad smile. She nodded, a similar expression on her face and somehow, they understood each other.

The language of the heartbroken. 

The Trebles went on stage next and Chloe took a few breaths. She wasn’t mad at Beca, she was just sad that it ended this way. But she worked too hard to let it get to her too much. She wanted to go out there and give it all she got. She was excited about the set they had and was confident they had a chance to go home with the trophy. 

She smiled when she saw Benji finally getting to sing on a stage and the audience seemed to react very positively to him. The Trebles were really good and they were the real competition. Like she was thinking the same thing, Aubrey gathered them up.

“I’m really proud of you guys,” she said and everyone seemed relieved that she wasn’t stressing them out more before the competition. “We’re gonna do great.” 

Everyone cheered and Chloe felt the adrenaline pump in her body as they walked on the stage. The first thing she noticed when she looked up at the crowd was Lilly. Then Jessica, Ashley, Flo, Emily, Fat Amy, Cynthia-Rose, Stacie and finally Beca at the end of the row. Chloe’s heart skipped a beat. She had no idea the hockey team was planning to come and she had an idea it was all because of Beca who was planning on surprising her. Beca knew Chloe missed the Dames and she invited them to see her. Chloe couldn't believe it.

Even with the circumstances, she felt so happy to see them, a grin splitting her face in half. Stacie seemed to notice it because she waved happily and made a funny face, pointing to Beca. The captain of the Dames was looking at her lap like it was the most interesting thing in the world but just the fact that she was there meant the world to Chloe. 

Aubrey blew the pitch pipe and Chloe turned into Bellas mode and forgot about the crowd in an instant. Aubrey started singing  _ Price tag _ by Jessie J and when one of the Bellas started rapping, the audience realized how much the Bellas had changed their sound and started clapping along with excitement.  _ Price tag _ turned into  _ Don’t You Forget About Me _ with Chloe singing the lead vocals and she couldn’t help but glance at Beca who’s eyes were now fixed on her. 

She had a shy smile on her face and Chloe continued the routine, trying to ignore the tingly sensation in her body. She was so happy at this moment. The crowd was cheering loudly, the Bellas were doing really good and the girl she was in love with was  _ there _ . 

They started sing _ing Give Me Everything but there were also hints of Party in the USA,_ _Just The Way You Are_ and _Turn the Beat Around_ mixed into all of it and Chloe was still astonished that Beca managed to make a mash-up of all these songs and make it sound so good. 

By the smile on Beca’s face right now and the way the Dames were all dancing on their seats, Chloe understood they were doing a hell of a good job. With her messed-up vocal chords, she couldn’t sing above a G-sharp but she could hit the bass notes and it felt good to see the audience seemed to like it.

They finally sang one last “L _ et’s do it tonigh _ t” all together and struck a final pose as the whole crowd went wild and the hockey players in the audience were the first ones on their feet, clapping loudly. 

Chloe’s eyes met Beca’s and before she knew it, she was hugging everyone and stepping off stage, her feet running to Beca. 

“You came,” she said when she got to her, completely breathless. Stacie and Emily said something but right now, she couldn’t focus on anything else but Beca.

Beca smiled at her, the biggest smile she had ever seen on the brunette before.    
  


“I’m in love with you too,” is all she said in response. 

Everything in Chloe’s world stopped but she didn’t have time to have a reaction because Beca grabbed her face and made their lips crash together. The crowd was still loud around them and she could hear the cheers of the hockey players and the Bellas around them as Beca’s tongue slid inside her mouth. They kissed for probably too long for a public space like this but Chloe could only focus on Beca’s lips on hers and the way her hands had a possessive hold on the redhead's body. 

They pulled away and steel blue eyes stayed on ocean blues eyes, the whole world disappearing around them. They stayed close to each other, their bodies fitting together like two pieces of a finalized puzzle. They were now complete. 

“I’m staying,” Beca said as if it was the simplest thing in the world. They were both staying. They were going to have more time together. 

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Chloe kissed her again because she could and she was in love with her and Beca was in love with her too. After the warmth had settled comfortably in her stomach, she moved back and looked at Beca deeply in the eyes.

“Do you want to be co-captains of the Bellas with me?” 

**The End**

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed this! If you did, make sure to leave a kudos and a comment, it's really appreciated.
> 
> twitter: @chlobeaie  
> tumblr: chlobeales


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